Soul gem Saga 2: Forgotten Blood
by largefish8
Summary: Its been two nullspace years since Matt was on Avalar and now he has to return when an base belonging to an enemy of the NSC is discovered there. However time passes differently in magical worlds... full summary on first story chapter...
1. authers note

**Authors note: This story follows the events of my co-author Cydra's story, Change of Soul. If you have not read that you may not understand the following opening so I recommend you read that first before proceeding…a link to Cydra's profile can be found on my profile page under 'Co-authors'.**


	2. The return pt 1

**Spyro, Cynder, and all other Spyro related characters are property of Sierra studios. **

**Draco, Contrinus, Chip and Cydra are property of my co-author, Cydra. **

**Matt, his merc team, the NSC and related tech, the ancients/atlanteans and malefors dragon generals are mine.**

**Soul Gem saga 2: Forgotten Blood**

Summary: Its been two nullspace years since Matt was on Avalar and now he has to return when an enemy of the NSC constructs a base there. However time passes differently in magical worlds...and old enemies as well as answers to mysteries that plagued Matt and his sister during their fight with the empire.

**Chapter 1: The Return Part 1  
**

**NSS Bladestorm.**

**Badlands Sector, Nullspace**

Chloe and Talia looked at the two creatures in front of them. Chloe was a fan of the Simpsons TV show but it was still one hell of a shock to meet two of the characters in person, in this case, Kang and Kodos the aliens. "So...you're working for the Kuphan government." she said weakly.

"Partly," said Kang, "we're mostly in the technology exchange department." "It's a part-time gig," said Kodos. "Good for you...did you bring the re-coder?" said Talia, getting straight to the point. A lot of the crew were jumpy just from the fact the two aliens were associated with the Kuphans, let alone the rather...worrying teeth the aliens had.

"Sure thing," said Kang. "Of course, we do require the usual payment," said Kodos. "Okey-dokey," said Morph as he hopped up, "I'll go get it." Chloe looked at the two aliens. "I always did wonder...what does he pay you guys in? The kuphans aren't interested in NSC credits and I saw his room...most precious metals would melt in that environment...its the only living quarters with an airlock I ever saw." she said curiously

Suddenly the door opened and Homer Simpson walked in. He looked around in confusion and say, "Hey... where are the donuts? I was told there'd be donuts." Morph came back in behind Homer. Chloe glared daggers at him who wilted. "Explain...and make it phenomenally good...ok?" she said, every syllable sliding into place like the hammer of doom.

"Oh, yeah, I forgot to mention," said Morph, "There's a SMID convention going on and I'll be gone for a week. Kang and Kodos was giving me and Homer a lift. And here's the payment you wanted." Morph handed one of the suitcases over to the Rigelian siblings. Chloe sighed "I forgot...look...when you get back we might not be back from this NSC contract...if so then Chris is in charge of the Bladestorm...ok?"

"Okey-dokey," said Morph as he put on Groucho Marx glasses with googly-eyes on the lenses, "How do I look?" "Completely ridiculous," said Talia. "Perfect," said Morph. Meanwhile, Kang and Kodos had opened the other suitcase. "Ah, a perfect speciman," said Kang as he pulled out a branch of coral in a suspended animation container. "Coral? He pays you in coral?" said Talia, in a disbelieving voice.

"Our people are trying to terraform another planet," said Kodos, "We require a species that will act as both an essential part of the food chain and island construction." Talia decided not to say that the file on the Rigelians said that 'colonization' had the same meaning as invasion in their language...a reason their species had been repeatedly denied admission to the NSC. "Cool...look after yourself, Morph and see you in a few weeks." Chloe nodded "We'll take a few holo-pictures."

"I'll send postcards," said Morph. Homer looked around and said, "You have any beer?" Chloe and Talia looked at each other and said "No." together. At that moment there was a distant explosion and WARDEN materialized. "I'm sorry, Ma'am's but the captains...project has caused more damage to docking bay 3..." he said before his eyes fell on the equipment two bickering kuphans were unloading.

"No, no, that wire's plugged into the wrong spot, Ba," said one with an arched head and light blue stripes. "And I say, you're making a big deal out of nothing, Ka," said the other, who has a more box-like head and deep red stripes. WARDEN spoke, making the two Kuphans jump. A.I's were practically unknown in the Kuphan federation. "Please take the devices to medical room 7...and Ka was correct." he said before vanishing.

**Medical Room 7**

**NSS Bladestorm**

The others were waiting for them. "You know, being big was fun and all, but it gets in the way too much," said Chip. "Frankly, I'd like to be able sunbathe again," said Draco. "Me too," said Contrinus. The three however looked over at where Kala was sitting on a one of the beds, looking at the floor, gloomily. "But I guess not all of us will be happy changing back." said Draco gloomily.

"Don't worry dear, it'll be alright," said Contrinus, patting Kala on the back, "As soon as the war's over, you can be together again." Kala said sadly. "And how will that work? He'll be 4 times my size." Chip tried to imagine that but then he was punched in the leg by Contrinus. "Uh, I'm sure a little genetic cosmetic surgery could fix that problem," said Chip. "Or you could have Megan use a spell," said Draco.

"I don't know...maybe I shouldn't get the treatment?" said Kala and looked up into a reflective part of the wall...and screamed. Her reflection, at least to her was of her dragon form, complete with the glowing purple eyes of Kai. The apparition said "Yesss...stay like that." "Ok, ok, I changed my mind, I should get the treatment," said Kala quickly. The others looked at each other and just shrugged.

Ka finally stood up from the booth he and his brother had assembled. "Ok...who's first, guys?" he said cheerfully. Kala practically threw herself into the re-coder. Ba and Ka looked at each other. "Enthusiastic...aren't you?" said Ba and turned on the device, the inside of the booth glowing a warm faint red.

"It is safe, right?" asked Draco. "Of course it is," said Ka, "unless a fly got in there." "What would happen then?" asked Contrinus. "Sister, you don't want to know," said Ba.

--

Chloe came in a few minutes later to see Contrinus, the last to get re-coded, stepping out of the re-coding device, an experiment again. "Ok...we're done here." said Ka, starting to disconnect connections. Chloe looked over to see Kala and walked over. "Matt told me about what Taleth tried to do...you made the right choice." she said soothingly, offering a piece of the slice of coconut cake she'd picked up for lunch.

"Thanks," said Kala as she took it and walked off. As she was exiting the room, NegaMorph was entering it. He looked back at Kala and said, "She's pretty upset, isn't she?" "She loves my brother I think...and I think he loves her back. I haven't seen him so gloomy since Endra died." Chloe said. "Not even tinkering with the Nighthawks weaponry is making him happy."

"Hmm, what exactly were the risks of her staying like that?" asked NegaMorph, "I know she's needed to help treat the EXP Virus, but is there anything else?" "I won't break my brothers or Kala's trust...lets just say they had a problem in common." said Chloe sadly.

"Something about corruption, right?" asked NegaMorph. "Yes," said Chloe, reluctantly. NegaMorph looked thoughtful and said, "Kala made herself susceptible to corruption just so that I could exist again. It'd be a fine way to repay her for what she's done for me. I'm going to do everything I can to make sure she doesn't fall into darkness."

Chloe nodded. "Yeah...thats a good idea. Now then, Matt's finished upgrading the Nighthawk...we got alot of useful tech from taleths vessel...Techo's made some new phase rifles using the staffs, added new sensors defences and weaponry to the Nighthawk...what I don't get is why matt insisted on it...somethings spooked him badly." Negamorph nodded. "Ever since we got this contract...he hasn't even let us see it yet."

Shortly afterwards, everyone was assembled at the debriefing room. "I wonder what this big mission is," said Draco. "I hope it isn't a suicide one," said Contrinus. "The way Matt's acting, I think he WANTS to commit suicide," said Chip.

Matt came in. "Ok...is everyone here?" he said, loading a holo-disk into the rooms emitter." A file appeared from the NSC Newsnet. The report was muted but it showed a half-ruined empire facility sitting in a volcanic landscape. In the background sat a volcano with a huge surface-to-orbit cannon pointed skywards. De-activated droids were standing or laying where they had been hit by EMP pulse fire and NSC troopers and assault tanks were swarming the area. Negamorph recognized it. "The Banshee cannon. But that was abandoned...they couldn't get the right amount of juice to power it." he said

"Well, someone's found it and is working on how to power it up," said Matt. Chloe said "Looks like the NSC got their hands on it...so why are we being ask..." she began and stopped as the unwanted face of Captain Neilsson appeared. "Ok, Lynch...I sent for you cause you're the best. This is the Banshee cannon...its sitting in the middle of that dimension you found during your time on the Maelstrom star." Neilsson said, obviously a recording. Chloe immediately understood why Matt had ordered the Bladestorms new escort ship upgraded so much. The last time he'd gone to that world, he'd been the only survivor and had falsified the report to give the world a Z classification.

"Uh, isn't the world supposed to be a magic-based one?" asked Chip, "What could they possibly due with a hi-tech weapon like that? That's like giving particle guns to baboons." Neilsson continued "Right now you're asking why the empire set up such a facility. When we arrived the base was in emergency lockdown after an accident with some kind of portal they'd been researching. They were prepping assault forces to push outwards as well. We, however, need you to do a recon on the banshee cannon. Its connected to something near the planets core and we need you to scout it out...given you've been here before." Matt glared coldly at the image as it continued ""You will, of course all receive quadruple the standard government contract bounty, however this contract is a government contract so I expect you on planet within 48 hours. Message ends."

"So, we just go find some abandoned cannon at a place you've visited before?" asked Draco. "No...he wants us to check under it as well. You heard him." said Techo. "It's magma powered?" said Chloe. Techo shook his head. "Nope...the extra files say the volcanoes extinct...but the empire put some kind of service elevator in...its 4 miles deep."

"So they were mining something to use a power source," said Kala. Matt stated silent. "We'll have to go...but we're taking full hazmat suits with us...the combat variety...we go in hot." he said after a minute. He turned and said. "Anyone who wants to come...report to the nighthawk in 5 minutes."

NegaMorph turned to the others and said, "Uh, don't you think he's overreacting a little bit?" Chloe sighed. "Think in his place. The last time he was there it was a massacre."

--

Matt was sitting in the Nighthawks bridge. It was the exact same as the Ohana's had been. "Times almost up." he said faintly to himself. Chloe, Techo, and Wilson came into the bridge. "We better get a move on," said Chloe. Matt jumped, turning around as Draco, Chip, Kala and Contrinus also came in with a small number of crewmembers who took positions at consoles. "Hey...Chloe? Guys?" he said, shocked.

"What? You didn't think we'd turned chicken on you," said Draco. "This can't be half as bad as some of the other stuff we've faced," said Chip. Matt's happiness turned to anger in a flash. In Draco's and Chip's tone he saw Davis Akona, the crewman who hadn't just died but had been brought back as a...host for Raptor. "You haven't a clue. We could all be killed...do you understand me?" he snapped.

"Ok, ok, no need to grab necks," said Draco, well aware of past experiences where Matt lost his temper. "We're better prepared this time," said Chip, "I think we're covered for their surprises." Matt sagged in the seat and said, faintly "No...if this goes wrong...you won't be."

**Dragon Eye Nebula**

**Restricted zone**

The nebula hadn't changed. Matt found that surprising. Here, people he'd worked with and people he'd called friends had all died...or been changed. Was she still alive? "Ok. Techo, take us in." he said. Techo checked the radar screen and said, "Hmm, looks like there's a little space weather today. Minor solar flares, nothing to worry about."

Matt nodded. One of the marines at a console said "Sir. Bladestorm on the line." Matt turned as the view changed to Chris. "Ok, Matt. We'll see you in a week or two. Don't worry, the experiments can't get into the coffee." he said. Just as he was about to turn off, a ensign said "Sir? Stitch and Hyena have gotten into the coffee storage cen..." the voice being cut off as the connection ended.

Chloe turned and said, "Well, look on the bright side, at least it's calmer for us than it is for him." Matt nodded and sat down in the pilot seat, next to Techo, steering the ship to the side apparently at random. A second later an arc of warp lightning shot by where the ship would have been. Matt realised everyone was staring.

"Uh, forget what I said about solar flares," said Techo. Matt nodded as the view cleared. A wormhole sat in the nebula's eye, two NSC automated gunboat drones sitting either side. A communication sounded "Unidentified vessel. This dimension is Z class. Unauthorised access is restricted." "Feed them the authorization programs," said Matt, "and keep a finger over the shield buttons in case we got the wrong programs."

There was a tense three minutes as the drones considered the codes. Just as Matt was about to order the ship to turn around when the drone said "Access granted, Captain Lynch...proceed to Banshee outpost at once." They let out a collective sigh of relief. "Ok, let's see if we've got proper coordinates," said Matt.

The ship flew quickly into the wormhole and got a terrible shock when they nearly rammed a cluster three pronged satellites with the empire logo painted on the side. "Defence platforms I think...offline." said Wilson to collective relief. At that range the platforms would have torn them to bits, new shielding or not. The planet however was the surprise to most, except for Matt. "Just as I left her." he muttered.

The planet was a rather unusual type of world, and not just because of its inhabitants. It was one of the very few planets that were capable of surviving being in several jigsaw-like pieces that slowly orbited around the glowing core in the center. Wilson said simply "What the fuck did that to the planet?" summing up everyone's thoughts in one. Matt said "Let's just say it partially earned its classification."

"It's safe to land on there, right?" asked Chloe. "Oh, perfectly fine, unless you land on one part that's particularly thin or you miss and go into the gaps," joked Matt. Chloe thumped him across the back of the head "Ow...joking, joking." he said. Techo said "Gotta bead on the base...taking us in."

Chloe glanced out the window and said, "You know, it's pretty picturesque here. Matt, you ought to take a picture to show..." Her voice trailed off when she saw that Matt was busy fiddling with his wristcomp. "Matt?" she said, making him jump. She thought she saw the words 'Subjects located' on his wrist comp before he turned it off. "Sorry...ok, lets suit up...might as well look good for Captain jerk off." he said.

As Matt walked off, Chloe remarked, "Well, something's got Matt in a good mood." "Probably bad news for me," said NegaMorph. Chloe gave him a look. "Sorry, old habits die hard," said NegaMorph. Banshee Outpost was a hive of activity as the Nighthawk arrived. Groups of troops were drilling in the grounds, wearing full facemasks due to the ash from the volcanoes, tanks and walkers were patrolling and a cluster of ships were hovering over the base, guns at the ready. Neilsson himself was standing at the landing pad reserved for Matt's ship.

Matt, upon leaving naturally proved his good humour. "Neilsson...how's everyone's favourite form forger today?" making the captain, or admiral judging from the new badges on his suit, twitch. "You're finally here...and you're late." he said, making Matt retort "Fashionably late." Neilsson however nearly had a heart attack when Negamorph strolled down the landing ramp.

NegaMorph immediately found several targeting lasers on various parts of his body. "Let me guess," he said, "Someone didn't get the memo about me switching sides. Or perhaps someone never sent one." Matt sighed "We were busy under attack by psychopaths, Negamorph." he said before exploding the energy cells in the guards guns to Neilsson's horror. "WHAT THE EHLL ARE YOU DOING?" he screamed, impressing the mercs with the volume. "Negamorphs defected...I sent a memo...eventually but given how times a bit screwy round here it probably arrived 50 years ago for all I know." said Matt, as if he hadn't just disarmed Neilsson's guards.

"As if a simple defection will make up for what he's done," said Neilsson, "He's a war criminal. He should be put to death for his crimes." "I've already died, thank you very much," said NegaMorph, "Through genetic vivisection if you want to know." "And you're not allowed to execute people twice...its rude." said Matt cheekily.

"Well, since you're so 'fashionably late'," said Neilsson, "there is not enough time today for you to check out the Banshee cannon. You'll have to do it in the morning." Matt nodded "Good...nighty night, jerk features." he said rudely. The group walked away from Neilsson laughing. "What did I do in a previous life to deserve him?" sighed Neilsson.

--

Matt and the group were passing the motor pool when Matt looked at one of the fighters. "Hey, guys...something I need to do off base. I'll see you all in a hour or two." "Try not to attract too many monsters," said Chloe, without looking up from what she was doing. Matt nodded and ran over to the fighters.

--

The flight to where he needed to go was easy enough. Matt remembered everything about his little stay in Avalar, including where he'd buried the damn Bio-scanner. He landed in a clearning a few minutes walk from where the scanner was and got down to digging for it. "God, I hope this isn't a malfunction." her muttered, digging down to the scanner he'd left all those years ago toi prove that two people hadn't died like almost everyone had thought. He was so engrossed in his work he didn't hear movement behind him.

"Gee, I don't recall digging it down this far... YEOW!!" That last remark was when a stream of fire hit him on his upturned butt. He ducked into the hole and pulled out his blaster in one hand and pulled off his glove to ignite a plasma ball in the other. He peered barely over the top to see two shapes just before another fireball nearly took his head off. "Good a time as any to try this trick out." he said, throwing the orb into the air and blasting it, making a blinding flash. Before the flash had cleared he was out the hole and running at the figures.

Suddenly, before he could tackled them, a freezing wind came and encased most of his body in ice. Which was a bit awkward as he currently had one leg raised. "Ok...lets try diplomacy." he muttered, turning his head towards where the ice blast had come from. "If I surrender, does that mean I don't die?" he called.

"Wait a minute, I know that voice. Matt, is that you?" said a very familiar female voice. "Sonya? Did you just shoot me?" Matt said, recognizing the voice that had just spoken. "This is really uncomfortable and if my foot snaps off I'm sueing you." he said.

"Sorry, thought you were from that raider base," said Sonya, "Smoldron, can you melt him please?" Then the flames came back, but gentler than before. Pretty soon, Matt could move again, even though he was soaking wet. "Nope. Not with those guys." said Matt, testing his foot to check it wasn't frost bitten before turning to see who it was who had unfrozen him.

What he saw was Sonya standing next to a fire dragon that reminded Matt a lot of what he used to look like, only more muscular and a little taller. "Smoldron I presume. Captain Matthew Lynch, CPS." he said, nodding a polite greeting. "So you're the Matt I've heard so much about," said Smoldron. He looked at Sonya and said, "I would have thought he'd look more imposing." Matt glared. "Oh yeah? I almost turned you into a pair of boots." he said icily.

"Well, I guess the stories I've told would make one expect to see a great warrior," said Sonya, "But he is very tough, even as a human." Matt managed somehow to keep a straight face. "Yes...human." he said looking around. "Hey Matt!" Matt jumped a bit but then noticed the floating golden. "Oh, hey Sparx," said Matt. "So...how long have I been gone? Its been two to three years for me..." Matt said, sitting down on the ground.

"That long?" asked Sonya, sounding surprised, "It's only been 4 months here." Matt sighed. "Stupid wormhole." he muttered before remembering why he'd come. "Oh...some good news...the bio-scanner commed me when I arrived. I think it mighta found them." he said. Smoldron looked confused as the other two suddenly perked up. "That's terrific!" said Sparx, "Where are they?"

"I was about to find out when you all said 'Hello' in the traditional mercenary way." said Matt, jumping back in the hole and rubbing some earth off the covering of a Bio-scanner. A small screen was flashing with readouts. "Ok...let me see...nice, they came into range about 2 months ago...they must be not far away now."

"Who exactly are you talking about?" asked Smoldron. "Oh, only the two dragons that kept this world from falling apart," said Matt. Smoldron's face suddenly lit up as he realised. "You mean...Spyro and Cynder?" he said in shock. "The one and only." replied Matt smugly, clicking away at the controls, uploading a up to date planetary scan to its map. The new map however made him frown. "Oh great." he said, double checking.

"What is it?" asked Sonya. "They're heading towards my base and my crew haven't been informed about them yet," said Matt. Smoldron looked over Matts shoulder. "So?" Matt looked over. "I kinda gave this world a bad review...the base security squads will shoot first and not bother with questions."

"Then we better catch them," said Sonya as she spread her wings. Matt jumped up. 2No...they'll just shoot you too...malefors goons are one kettle of fish but this is a fully trained NSC batallion...you'll be sliced apart...I'll go back and try to talk to Neillson...wish I hadn't insulted him now." he said, adding the last part to himself.

"I kinda doubt they'd be so paranoid," said Sonya. "Well, we've been fighting a particularly nasty empire who constantly uses bio-weapons," said Matt, "So they're extra jumpy right now." Sonya was silent for a minute. Matt said "Look...Even if I can't talk the admiral down, I can at least intercept Spyro and Cynder quicker and get them to go round...anyway we got till midday tomorrow."

"Then you better hurry," said Sonya, "You will stop by later, right?" "Course I'll stop by...I'll introduce you to my team and my sister. Like I'll miss the homecoming party."

--

Later, Matt was trying to talk to Neilsson. "Listen, sir, I know this planet. I know there are some decent people here. Actually, several decent people," said Matt. Neilsson was not convinced. "If thats correct, then why did you give this place a Z classification in your report. Falsifying a report is a serious offence, Mr Lynch." Matt glared "Its captain..." and was interrupted as Neilsson laughed and said "Not when I've told the council about your false report."

"Listen, I had my reasons," said Matt, "If I had given a completely truthful report about this planet, the NSC would have torn it all up for a new colony or something." "Of course...and if we had we'd have had a forward base to hit the empire with." retorted Neilsson. After a minute he said "Fine...I'll order the defence grid to stand down...you'll carry out your mission and then I'm arresting you, Mr Lynch and your little mutant lawyer won't weasel you out of it this time." Matt hung his head in defeat and said "Fine."

--

The lift access tunnel was set into the volcano itself and was sealed with a 3 foot thick blast door. "I don't believe that asshole." said Chloe angrily when Matt told them what he'd been forced to agree with Neilsson, though the two armed NSC marines had been a large clue. "I know," said Matt, "and this place'll probably be colonized in the end anyways. But at least I bought them another 4 months of peace."

Chloe nodded. Wilson and Draco looked at the guards. "Hey, Draco...you think you could flash freeze those assholes? We could get back to the ship and get the hell outta here." Matt overheard. "No...if I leave, Spyro and Cynder are space dust." he said. "Well, what does the NSC have to do to put a planet on 'Keep Off' terms?" asked Chip, "Other than saying it's a Z-class."

"Nothing...Z classes can be legally used as military bases...weapon research...things like that...Neilssons perfectly legalized to turn this place into an outpost." said Matt as they all stepped into the lift, almost knocked over as it began shooting down the shaft.

"Urgh, did they cut the cable or something?" said Chloe. "Sure feels like it," said Draco, who was now on the ceiling with Chip. The window out the lift was just showing rock going by at a incredible rate. That suddenly hanged as the shaft came out into the area under the floating sections. Vast power cables, connecting to the cannon above were windoing down to a huge purple crystal at the very bottom. Chloe saw Matt's expression turn to horror. "Those bloody idiots...surely there was a sign." he said.

"Uh, something tells me that crystal is really bad news," said Chloe, "and not because it's powering a giant cannon." "You're right...everyone. Make sure you don't touch ANYTHING with exposed skin." said Matt, clicking some armour piercers into his rifle. "Ugh, I don't feel so good," said Draco as he and Chip unstuck from the feeling. "Yeah, that ride was enough to give me motion sickness too," said Chip.

"No...its not that..." said Draco. The lift however stopped suddenly and the door hissed open. att and Chloe tossed some lit glow sticks onto the surface and Matt stepped out onto the crystal first, looking around nervously. It had changed a lot, the connectors of the cables were crudely jammed into the crystal, leaving cracks through which faint light pulsed. "Techo.,..scans, now...lets get this done." he said.

Kala noticed a large stalagmite made of black crystal. It was so large, it joined with a stalactite of the same crystal over it. Draco walked over to her. "Hey...I don't like this...be careful." he said and noticed that Kala seemed to be in a trance, taking the glove off her modified hazmat suit and reaching for the crystal.

"Uh, Kala? Kala? I'm not liking that look," said Draco. He grabbed her arm and tried to pull her back, but she kept moving forward. "Geez, I forgot she was this strong in experiment form," said Draco.

Matt turned around at the commotion. "KALA, NO!" he screamed and ran towards her, pushing his guards aside who ran after him, thinking he was trying to escape. It was too late however, Kala touching the crystal that cracked and fell apart, jets of black fog shooting out like they were pressurized. One of the guards tackled Matt and pointed his blaster in Matts face, unaware that one of the jets of fog was heading for him. "Ok you, asshole...you're not going...urk!" as the fog smashed through his helmet and down his throat. The guard convulsed and fell backwards as his team mate tried to scream as another jet of fog went for her too. Matt got up unsteadily and looked around. He and the team pointed their guns around as the last two fog jets floated around, as if deciding.

Suddenly one of them seemed to study the similarities between Matt and Chloe before lunging towards Chloe. "Chloe! No!" shouted Kala as she jumped in the way of the fog jet. At the same time, the other one went into Draco. Matt screamed in mindless horror, running over to Kala, grabbing her as she fell down. "Kala...oh god, no." he said. "Speak to me." he said and stopped when Kala's eyes opened...they were sky blue...he knew those eyes too well. "If you insist." said 'Kala' and fired a blast of ice that blew Matt off his feet. Wilson and Techo picked him up as Chloe dragged Chip and Contrinus over to them as well. "What the hells going on?" said Wilson as the guards and Draco got up and looked at them, their eyes also changed.

"Really big trouble," said Matt, "Trouble I've dealt with before and really hoped I wouldn't have to deal with again." Draco began speaking but the voice that emerged wasn't his. "Ah, Mr Lynch...I haven't seen you since the time Cynder broke my neck outside the temple." he said in a tone of voice as if he was simply meeting an old friend. "Shard..." said Matt coldly. "Aren't you going to introduce yourselves to my crew? Anyway, Malefors pushing up daisies."

"The great Malefor can never be defeated forever!" cried one of the guards, "His power is everlasting! Even now, he emerges from the tomb you sealed him in." Just then, the crystal became to shake violently. "Well, technically, that wasn't me," said Matt, "But what's more important is... see ya!" He and the others ran straight for the elevator. Chloe picked up Chip and Contrinus and followed the others. "Who the hell is Malefor?"she screamed over the rumbling. "Tons of trouble." said Matt as the lift started to go up. He pulled out his comm. "Hey, Neilsson...we gotta problem...get eveything to barricade the volcano...now...you wanted to know why I gave a Z class to this world? You're about to find out." he yelled.

One thing about NSC troops is that when they're told to scramble, they scramble at top speed. Every soldier that Neilsson had with him had grabbed a particle rifle and were heading towards the lift. Techo however had made some homemade versions using the staff weapons they'd salvaged from Taleths ship. "These ought to make em think twice...I hope we don't have to use em." he said. The lift opened and the group were nearly shot by the huge blockade. They ran out behind the rows of tanks and troopers just in time as the banshee cannon exploded as something blasted it aside with a beam of purple energy. The troopers didn't wait for the smoke to clear. "OPEN FIRE!" yelled the trooper in charge and everyone began shooting.

"Stop! You're going to hurt Draco!" shouted Contrinus and tried to fly back. However, Chip grabbed her and said, "He's not himself at the moment. Trust me, I've seen him like this before and he won't be nice to have around." The trooper in charge yelled "Hold fire." when no return fire came from the smoke.

Then they heard what sound like thunder rumbling. But then they realized it was deep evil laughter. "Oh, that's not a good sign," said Wilson. Suddenly a blast of purple energy came out of the cloud. The blast swept over the line of tanks, blowing them apart and scattering the troops. The blast also cleared away the smoke revealing Malefor in all his glory. "Oh shit." sad Matt as Malefors gaze fell on him and the eyes widened in recognition. "Erm...run." Matt said.

No one needed more prompting and they all sprinted ped-mill, full-speed, darn-the-torpedoes away. Matt however was blocked off by a thrown tank that easily blocked the only way to the landing pads. "I'm fine...get outta here...NOW!" he yelled to the gang. He turned to see Malefor had landed...he also noticed that the wounds the giant dragon had sustained weren't healing...and that Matts H.U.D built into his goggles were detecting no lifesigns from Malefor.

"Uh, hey Malefor," said Matt nervously, "Long time no see. Trying for the dracolich look, I see. I think it's catching on. I know another guy who's an undead dragon." "It certainly has been a long time," said Malefor, "Long enough to thoughtfully think out my revenge on you when I get freed. I'm surprised you had the foolish bravery to show your face here. Or is that your new power that's giving you a confidence boost?"

Matt glared. "Of for the love of god...Is there some kind of neon sign over me that says 'atlantis-made half-dragon?" he said before gulping noticing that Malefor was blocking the only escape. "Out of interest...what revenge did you have in mind?" he said, noticing other figures emerging from the smoke.

"Well, I considered simply blasting you," said Malefor, "But then I realize that would be too swift a death for you. I wanted something slower. Of course, your annoying talking was a large motivation in carefully selecting your demise. So I've decided that I'll just rip out your tongue and let you bleed to death."

"What is it with muting me?" said Matt, igniting a plasma ball behind his back. "Anyway, I'm a bit more of a handful then the last time...for a start, this time I don't need a gun." he said and threw a plasma ball at Malefor before running down a alley between two barracks.

--

As Matt was busy keeping his tongue, Chloe and the others were copying the new popular idea in the base. Getting to their ship and getting the hell out of dodge. However this wasn't as easy as it seemed. Several fly-like goblin creatures were attacking the staff with no discrimination. Any creature that wasn't on their side was a target. "What the hell are these things?" said Techo, shooting a larger, man-sized version using some kind of energy crossbow.

"Don't care at the moment, I just want to get out of here," said Chloe. Meanwhile, Chip was having trouble with Contrinus. "Contrinus, I'm telling you! He's possessed! He's not himself right now!" shouted Chip as he was holding on to Contrinus three legs. "And that's why I have to go back," said Contrinus, "He needs me!"

"Look. We don't know whats happened to Draco. Matt seems to know so we can ask him...whoa!" he said as Contrinus actually succeeded in lifting Chip up off the ground. Chloe and Techo paused for a minute to look at the rather ludicrous sight of Chip hanging from Contrinus's legs. "You know, if it weren't for the fact we were fighting for our lives, I'd probably bust a gut right now," said Techo. Chloe nodded and absently shot one of the creatures sneaking up on Techo. "CONTRINUS...GET YOUR FEATHERY BUTT BACK HERE!" she screamed before an explosion knocked her and Techo down.

"I'm trying to tell her to flee, but she won't listen to me!" called Chip. Just then, he lost his grip and fell down on top of Techo. Techo managed "Oh no!" Contrinus however had spotted Draco walking calmly through the base and the huge melee taking place between the evacuating NSC and the new creatures, completely ignored by the attackers.

"Draco, I know you're in there!" called Contrinus, "You need to fight his control." Draco turned to look at her with curiosity as she landed in front of him. "Oh...Contrinus, is it? I'm afraid this 'Draco' person is gone."

"You're lying!" snapped Contrinus, "Draco could never lose his body to any evil spirit." "I believe you overestimate him. Anyways, if you are going to address me, I think it should by the name of Shard. Now I suggest you leave before you do something very stupid." Contrinus looked behind to see a cluster of the creatures standing around her and Shard, as if waiting. "Should I have my Grublins make you leave? They can sometimes be overenthusiastic, my dear." said Shard.

"I'm not leaving without Draco!" shouted Contrinus. Shard sighed and said, "So foolish. The young always think with their hearts, not their head. But if you really want to struggle..." He snapped his fingers, signalling the Grublins to attack.

Fortunately, Contrinus's reflexes were quicker and she flew into the air before the grublins could tackle her. "I won't give up on you, Draco!" she called before flying back toward the others. The others were dug in around the NightHawk, shooting at any grublins that were trying to get aboard as well as sheperding any NSC staff they could aboard. Judging from the 6 or so dead crewmembers around the barricade the defence wasn't holding very well. "Contrinus...you didn't find him?" said Chloe, blasting another Grublin.

"I tried, but Shard's too strong. He has total control over him," said Contrinus. "Great," said Chip sarcastically, "Where's an exorcist when you need one?" At that moment, the comms on everyone wearing one crackled into life. "This is Admiral Neilsson. A full retreat has been ordered. All ships retreat to orbit and execute scorched earth protocol on Banshee base."

"Um, what does 'scorched earth' mean?" asked NegaMorph. "It means this entire place is about to be blown to hell." said Techo. Chloe was trying to jump the makeshift barrier back into the base. Three crewmembers were pulling her back. "We gotta go." yelled Wilson. Already the hovering vessels were moving up into space and anyone not on them were scattering in Pelicans and fighters, flying in every compass direction.

"You think he can be taken out like that?" said Chip, "I'm pretty sure undead dragons aren't that easily killed." "He took injuries...enough damage and his soul won't be able to exist here." said Techo, sealing the ramp. Chloe was screaming wordless defiance, trying to go dragon to get back outside. "NO...I'M NOT GOING...LET ME GO...!" she screamed.

Techo was trying to contact Matt. "Matt, you need to get out of there. Neilsson's going to try to blast it and Malefor. You have to get out." A distorted reply came back. "I'm a...it busy..." said Matts voice before the communication connection failed. The Nighthawk shot up into the atmosphere with alot more agility then the larger, clunkier battleship next to it. This probably saved them when, the minute both ships cleared the atmosphere a cluster of yellow energy torpedoes hit the battleship mid-section, completely destroying it.

"Well, we're boned," said Chip as the pieces of the ship started to rain down back to the ground. "Its the defence grid..the jamming generator planetside must be damaged." said Techo and the ship shook as a energy beam scored a glancing blow. "We'll never get through this...we gotta turn around." said Wilson.

"Then we're heading straight back to where Matt is," said Chloe. "Uh, isn't that what we wanted to run away from?" asked Wilson. NegaMorph glared at him and said, "Don't argue with her." Techo nodded. "The lady is always right." he said, turning the ship back towards the planet. "We'll come back down about 120 km from banshee base. It'll take 30 minutes to get back."

--

Meanwhile, Matt was not finding this came of cat and mouse fun at all. "Something tells me I should have stayed in bed this morning," he said to himself. Matt ran out into a small courtyard which was littered with dead NSC personnel. Suddenly a rock wall smashed upwards at one of the exits while a wall of ice blocked the other. Only one exit was left...and it was...occupied.

Malefor grinned as he approached Matt, Matt noticing how his cheeks had decayed slightly to show more fangs than usual. Next to him was the marine who was currently hosting Devina. Matt drew his pistol. "This things got incendiary rounds...I'll fry your butt." he said, angrily. Malefor didn't look worried even though Devina did look slightly worried.

Malefor turned to Devina and said, "Devina, why do still wear that mortal guise?" "I'm trying to change, just having a little trouble settling," said Devina. Suddenly the back of her clothing was torn apart as a black pair of dragon wings and a black dragon tail grew out. "Ah, much better," she said. Matt fired out of sheer reflex, only for Malefor to block it with a convexity shield. "Oh crud." said Matt, backing up only for him to hear two landings behind him.

He turned to see Raptor and Shard. Raptor was already making quick work with his host, his clothes were largely ripped apart, revealing yellow dragons scales underneath. Shard was slowly modifying Draco's body, making it larger and thicker. Matt turned, guns up and Shard was obviously enjoying seeing Matt hesitate in firing.

"Sire, why do we still let this human breathe?" said Raptor, "Shall we not slay him now?" "In a moment," said Malefor, "I think there's something he needs to see before he dies." Matt, despite his situation said cheekily "What? You're not gonna give the usual 'you cannot escape' speech, are you?"

"Tempting, but I think we've all been through that," said Malefor, "I just think you should watch this little spectacle." Then Matt noticed Kala, giving him a malicious smirk with Avarona's eyes. "Why you slimy-" stared Matt as he started towards Malefor before Raptor and Shard grabbed him from behind. "Actually, it's mostly my idea," said Avarona, "I just wanted to see the look on your face as your little sweetheart turns into the monster that cuts out your tongue." Then Kala's body swelled in size, red fur falling away to reveal blue scales.

Matt just shut his eyes. He could hear Draconus screaming at him that if Matt gave him control that he could kill Raptor and Shard and have his ion staff in Malefors skull in a minute if he wanted. Of course, Matt knew that Shard's body was really Draco's, so he couldn't let Draconus have control, no matter how tempting that sounded.

Then Kala's back rippled as spikes and wings sprung out. Her tail lengthened and grew reptilian. Finally, her head distorted to become that of a dragon's. Matt refused to open his eyes for a second...until Avarona stabbed him in the shoulder with her tail spike. "How are we feeling?" she taunted.

"You, you're all monsters," growled Matt. "Well, that's painstakingly obvious," said Avarona, "But don't worry, you won't have to worry about anything much longer." "Go on then...you can't do one more thing to me." he said and for emphasis spat in Malefors direction before adding "Spyro's coming to get yooou." he taunted and enjoyed Malefors face briefly look worried.

"He won't be here in time to save you," said Malefor, "Avarona, remove his tongue." Avarona grinned and said, "You know, I wanted to possess your sister to make this more ironic, but I think Kala works even better." Matt surprised Avarona however when he spat a plasma ball in her face. Avarona growled and tail whipped Matt so hard he went through a wall into one of the makeshift barrack units that collapsed shortly after. "Not so tough now." she snarled.

"Too bad, I was hoping on making him suffer a little more," said Avarona. "He was merely a rather strong pest," said Malefor, "The ones who truly deserves the full brunt of my wrath is Spyro and Cynder." Just then, a grublin came over to Malefor and said, "Master, we've found some prisoners in the cells."

**End of chapter 1**

**It doesn't look good for the gang. Malefors on the loose again with his dragon generals, there's no NSC help coming and the gang have lost 2 members. Can things get better? Tune in next time.**

**Note: These events take place after my Co-auther, Cydra's story 'Change of Souls'. I recommend you read that first to bring yourselves up to speed on matts adventures that took place between the last soul gem saga story and this one.**


	3. The return pt 2

**Spyro, Cynder, and all other Spyro related characters are property of Sierra studios. **

**Draco, Contrinus, Chip and Cydra are property of my co-author, Cydra. **

**Matt, his merc team, the NSC and related tech, the ancients/atlanteans and malefors dragon generals are mine.**

**CPS Chronicles: Forgotten Blood**

**Chapter 2: The return pt 2  
**

**Burned Lands**

**2 minutes after Malefors release**

Meanwhile, at the same time as Malefor and his generals were devestating Banshee Base, two dragons were flying over the border of the volcanic region. Both of them were famous on Avalar, even if they had no idea just yet. It had been 4 months since Spyro and Cynder had, with the help of two mercenaries from Nullspace, had stopped and defeated Malefor and had been spewed out of the planets core on the other side of the world. Now, finally, their journey home was almost over.

"It'll be so nice to be back in Warfang with no battles to worry about," said Spyro. "Yes, we can finally have some time to ourselves," said Cynder. Spyro nodded. "I wonder if Matt and Sonya stayed?" said Spyro as the ash covered wasteland shot below them, a moat of lava marking where the ring of fire barrier had been. Spyro's heart felt heavy as he remembered what had happened there.

"I don't know," said Cynder, "I just really hope enough people were able to get to safety before-" She stopped talking and shuddered. Spyro looked over and flew closer. "Cynder? Cynder, what's wrong?" he said.

"I feel a lot of dark magic," she said. "Well, I can't expect the traces of Malefor's influence to fade that quickly," said Spyro. "No...this isn't a remnant." said Cynder in a faint voice, looking ahead towards where the volcano would be seen usually. A thick fog blocked the view but several flashes could be seen, coinciding with faint thud sounds.

"Sounds like trouble's not completely gone yet," said Spyro as he and Cynder started gliding downwards. The trip through the fog was quite long, the two dragons unable to go fast in case they flew into a rock formation or a pillar of rock. Finally as the fog started to clear the noises ceased and a cluster of still burning ruins came into view.

"There's been a battle here," said Cynder, "If only ended a few seconds ago, if it's not still going on somewhere." The two dragons set down in a small courtyard, surrounded by half collapsed building and littered with dead bodies in armour emblazoned with the letters 'N.S.C'. In the distance gunfire could be heard punctuated by the telltale battlecries of Grublins.

"Sounds like more has changed than we thought," said Spyro. "And yet things still remain the same," said Cynder. The comm on one of the dead troopers was relaying the chilling final distress calls of the doomed orbiting fleet as the reactivated defence grid ripped them to pieces. Then Spyro spotted something on the ground; a sword-like object with a very shiny blade. "Hey, isn't that Matt's ion blade?" said Spyro.

The two dragons ran over to where it was, indeed, Matts ion staff. A faint groaning was heard from under the pile of plastic and metal walling. Cynder used her wind breath to blow away a large amount of the rubble so they push aside the rest of it. Matt was laying in a air pocket under the rubble, just starting to come too. "Ok...important survival tip...Avarona's temper is worse now." he said faintly, not opening his eyes yet.

"Matt?" said Spyro. Matt's eyes sprang open. "Spyro? Cynder? Boy am I glad to see you," said Matt. He winced as he tried to get up. "Ow, of course, I'm not in any shape for 'jumping for joy'." Spyro looked around at the base. "What happened here?" he said. Matt frowned. "Malefor and his pals are having a comeback tour." he said.

"What? But we defeated him," said Cynder, "Shouldn't they be trapped for eternity?" "Thank the idiots at Empire R&D. Places like this need a damn warning label. If I had a credit for every magic-related incident..." Matt said, leaving out that most of them he'd caused himself. Spyro glanced towards where the explosions were coming from. "So that fighting over there is..." "Malefor cleaning house I think. Before I passed out they mentioned prisoners." said Matt, adding "Makes you almost miss the catacomb A.I..."

"We should go after them," said Cynder, "We can't let them get away." "I know, but Matt's hurt," said Spyro, "He needs help more." "Spyro's right. He's brought his generals back too...they've got two of my friends. We can't do a thing." said Matt reluctantly. "My sisters gone back to nullspace...when they get back here Malefor's gonna get a nasty shock..."

--

Colonel Anton glared as the Grublin pushed him along the access tunnel from the brig to the surface. He couldn't believe his luck and wished Taleth hadn't assigned him to infiltrate the Empire. First he'd been sent to Avalar and this backwater facility...then the NSC had captured him, his crew, his ship AND Tuatara and now some jumped up little Grublin was pushing him around. "Stop that." he hissed in draconian as he was pushed out into the outside.

Anton's annoyance quickly shrivelled down to nothing, with a great deal of worrying replacing it. Standing in front of him were five dragons, one of them had purple rotting skin. Anton gulped. He remembered the stories of the Dark Master and the files Taleth had acuminated on him so recognizing Malefor and his generals was easy. "Ma-Malefor. And what do I owe this honour?" he said slipping into a diplomatic voice though the stutter of fear was unavoidable.

"Hmm... a human who knows respect," said Malefor, "First one I've seen in ages. But then again, you're not completely human, are you?" "You have met Archon Taleth? I was his first officer." said Anton proudly before adding "Like I said...what can I do for you?"

Malefor looked impressed. "It is good to see that the Shar-Virk still live," said Malefor, "I believe I will require your assistance when I dominate this world." "Oh...I can definitely help there. War technology has advanced in the void since your last war..." said Anton, walking over to a half-demolished security station and finding his wrist-comp. "Now then...lets get this place online...damn, the NSC blew the power cell constructor." he muttered before smirking. "I think you need a demonstration. Your new base has a pest infestation." he said, blowing up the feed from the camera he was viewing. It showed Spyro, Cynder and Matt on the image, quite clearly.

Malefor narrowed his eyes. "I had half-expected those two hatchlings to still be alive. But Matt is harder to stamp out than the cockroach he resembles. I want them brought here alive." "You'll be surprised how popular that human is...Taleth wants him alive, the emperor wants him alive...I'm surprised such a complete ass pain is so popular." he said tapping a few buttons. "Droid squad sigma is active...what about the dragons?" he said.

"Like I said before, my full wrath is reserved for them," said Malefor. "So...all alive then." said Anton, smirking at the viewer. "This'll be good...has anyone got any popcorn?"

--

Matt, Spyro and Cynder had been waiting for 10 minutes now while Matt recovered. "So...what did you get up to while I was gone?" "Well, to be honest, we've been taking a long vacation," said Spyro. "Saving the world takes a lot out of you," said Cynder. "You're telling me...Sometime I wish I'd decided to join the merchant corps instead. At least then I wouldn't be woken up every two hours by nutters wanting to slice my voice box out." said Matt, digging through some rubbish and finally pulling out a unbroken water bottle. "Least we can have a drink." he said and stopped as a laser bolt shot the bottle out his hand.

"Ok, now that's just plain rude," said Matt angrily, "Who's got the nerve to interrupt my water break?" Several dozen battle droids walked out of the shadows, pointing at the group. "Hey...you're supposed to be off." said Matt. The lead droid, signified by a golden strip of paint of its chest plate, said "Surrender...NOW!"

"Um, I think is the part where we... RUN!" yelled Matt as he, Spyro, and Cynder turned tail and ran away. The droids all began firing, a few almost hitting the group until Matt waved a hand, reached out with plasma control and blew the droids power cells. This only worked on a few of them though and the others just kept firing.

--

Back with Anton, he was laughing as the dragons and Matt fled from the droids laser fire. "As you can see...superior firepower...if you can supply alternate power cells, the bases factory can churn out fully equipped battalions with armoured support in a week." he said to Malefor. "Very impressive," said Malefor, "But the droids do know they are only to cripple, not kill, right?"

"They obey orders to the letter...and those weapons can stun. Your guests will arrive without a scratch on them." said Anton.

--

Matt, Spyro and Cynder turned a corner to see a sheer drop, a lava river flowing at the bottom. "Oh, boy...not good." said Matt. "I say we fly out of here," said Cynder, "Matt, we can carry you." Matt actually smirked. "No worries about that...anyway, I remember the stalactite." he said and calmly jumped off the edge. "Matt!" cried Spyro and Cynder as they looked down, half expecting to see Matt burning up in the lava.

A blue scaled dragon shot by them and spat a blast of plasma into the cluster of pursuing droids, blowing up three and forcing the others to take cover. "Hey...are we leaving or what?" said the dragon in Matt's voice, wearing his trademark grin.

"Matt?" said Spyro, his voice filled with confusion, "How did you-" Several fireshots cut him off. "Long story," said Matt, "Too long to tell right now." Spyro and Cynder nodded and took off too, the droids firing uselessly after them.

--

Anton ignored the glare from Malefor. "Your golems were supposed to CATCH them." said Malefor angrily. Anton sighed "They're not the only type available." he said, pressing the activation icon f0or a droid fighter squadron.

--

Matt looked over at Spyro as they flew along, using the thermals from the lava for height "I did mean to tell you..." he said. Matt couldn't help but notice that his dragon form was more avalarian in nature now, despite his reality shield.

"Apparently, a lot's changed for you in four months," said Spyro. "Actually, I went back to Nullspace after you saved the world," said Matt, "It's been about two years for me." Spyro and Cynder seemed shocked and Matt said "Believe me...I was surprised too...I saw Sparx by the way." he added.

"Oh, that's great," said Spyro, "Is he ok?" "Fine. His usual self. Sonya's happy too...she was with some fire dragon called Smoldron." said Matt, flipping to look behind himself as he flew. He seemed ready to say something but his eyes widened. "DIVE!" he yelled just as four CIS class droid fighters buzzed them. The three dragons had to flap to regain their 'footing'. "Those don't look good," said Cynder.

The fighters split up into twos and dived at the dragons, firing their turbo-lasers in rapid fire. "They're not..." said Matt. The dragons dodged and dived between the fire and Spyro blasted a fighter with a ice blast, freezing its engine and sending it spinning into the lava below. "We can lose them in that canyon maze...the one we went through to get to the volcano...remember?" said Matt.

"How could I forget?" said Cynder, "It was so smelly in there." The three dragons flew down into the canyons, one fighter following each. The one following Spyro began to try to lock on with a net missile. It knew its orders were to capture alive and despite the chance the dragon would fall in the lava this was the best hope of success.

Of course, Spyro knew it would be a stupid idea to stay in one place for any longer than a few seconds. Therefore, the droid had significant difficulty in getting a fix on Spyro. The droids pursuit finally ended when Cynder and her droid pursuer flew by at an intersection, both droids colliding and exploding.

"Nice move," said Spyro. "Thank you," said Cynder. "Say, where's Matt?" asked Spyro. Matt had his own trouble. The droid following him was alot more saavy then its friends and was wise to every trick Matt had in the book.

"Ok," muttered Matt to himself, "Gotta think, gotta think, need something that'll get rid of this thing." He strained his brain for a solution when suddenly he got a lot more pain than he had anticipated. The droid circled its prey when Matt stopped, hovering in midair, gripping his head in pain. As the pain faded, Matt looked at the droid as it circled in for a pass, arming a net missile for firing.

Spyro and Cynder watched as the droid prepared to fire. They were about to shout to warn him, when Matt spat something out of his mouth, something that looked like a boomerang made of solid energy. Whatever it was, it sliced right through the droid like it was a potato. The droid gibbered mechanically before falling into two neat slices. Matt was looking at himself in shock. "Where the hell did I learn that?" he said. What worried him was how naturally it had come to him and he instinctively checked his reality field in case he was encoding. "Matt...Are you ok?" called Spyro, he and Cynder flying over.

"Uh, yes, I am," said Matt. Suddenly his pointed ears caught the sound of anti-gravity hovering. "But I'm not sure we'll be so for long," he said as he looked to see more droids heading towards them. This time there were six droids, split into teams of two. "I think we're in trouble." said Matt. Suddenly a hail of golden orbs caught one of the teams and blew them to pieces. The Nighthawk shot out of the dark clouds overhead, firing as it came. A third droid fighter was literally smashed when the Nighthawk rammed it. "Ha ha...about time." laughed Matt.

One droid fighter starting flying towards Matt at ramming speed. Before it could reach him, something black leapt from the Nighthawk, landed on the droid, and punched through its optics before it could get a good look at him. The droid spiralled out of control and into the side of one of the canyons. Matt recognized his saviour at once. "Negamorph. I said for you guys to get out of here." he said, not really angry.

"Like we'd leave you guys," said NegaMorph as he used his Lockblade to blind another droid, "Besides, when I make a true promise, I intend to see it through." The last two droids quickly switched their attention to Negamorph, their programming to destroy traitors overriding everything else. Luckily a lance of lightning hit them, arcing over their hulls and throwing them into confusion.

Matt turned to see Chloe gliding towards them. "Chloe, you're here... and yellow," he said. Chloe glared at Matt. "It's not encoding...the reality fields are working...I guess whatever that facility did to us is finishing off." she said before seeing Cynder and Spyro.

"So these are the famous Spyro and Cynder," said Chloe. "We're famous?" said Spyro. Chloe nodded "Matt told me about you once we found out he'd falsified the report about this world." she said. "I'm Matt's sister, Chloe." "I can sorta see the family resemblance," said Cynder as she looked between Matt and Chloe. Then her eyes turned to NegaMorph. "What's that? Some sort of demon?"

Negamorph glared. "No...I am not a demon." he said coldly. "It's true," said Matt, "He's actually an alien experiment." He noticed NegaMorph's annoyed glare. "It's kind of a sensitive story." Chloe said. "We have a varied crew...talking of which...lets get back aboard before more fighters come along." The other four nodded and flew up back to the Nighthawk.

--

Back with Anton, he slowly turned the wrist-comps view off. "That bloody...hatchling." he muttered before looking at Malefor. "Your golems were less than successful," growled Malefor, his voice filled with annoyance and anger. "You have no idea the damages bill Captain Lynch runs up. I hear he nearly punched Taleths ticket last month...given his ship used atlantean weapons on those droids I guess it was true." said Anton, not at the least worried.

Malefor snarled and said, "I do not want any of them to be meddling in my plans. Experience has taught me that the longer they're alive, the better a chance they have at ruining something." "You do know you're dead...right? Even Ghoulwyrm...you do remember him...even he needed atlantean implants to keep in is body after a while...maybe if the chakra gem devices were still in our procession you could just..." he began.

This caught Malefor's interest. "I could just what?" he asked. "You know, transfer yourself to a younger body," said Anton, "and I have a feeling you know which one you would want." Malefor smirked. "Yes...yes I do know which one." Anton said "Well, you can't. The devices were hidden all over the avalar sector. They could be anywhere and I really doubt they would let you access the Warfang catacombs."

"Oh, I think there are ways around that," said Malefor, "You just need to be creative enough." Anton smirked. "We'll need additional technology...I think I can remember where some of the old facilities were located." he said.

--

Meanwhile, the gang was trying to figure out their next move. "Ok," said Chip, "You've said you've fought these guys before and have exorcised them. Can you do it again?" "Its been years...I can't remember the spell that did it...plus I used them on humans and dragons...not genetic experiments...god knows what'll happen" said Matt. He added "How are Spyro and Cynder settling in? I doubt the news of Malefor on the loose is good for their morale." he said to Wilson.

"Uh, Matt, I'm pretty sure those two are alright," said Wilson, "I think the ones we should really worry about is the rest of the crew." "How do you mean?" asked Matt. Techo had his head on a console. "The entire badlands sector fleet was here and we got a front row seat for it being blown away. Something that Malefor character did set off the grid...I think we're all thats left...to say nothing that we're trapped here." he said

"Wait, does that mean Neilsson's dead too?" asked Matt, his voice rising up a notch on the happiness meter. It quickly dropped several notches when Chloe whacked him on the backside of the head. "Ok, sorry, my bad." Wilson shook his head. "No...his ship wasn't present...either its in the atmosphere like us or it got away..." he said. A trooper at the navigation controls said "Where to, sir?"

--

Meanwhile, NegaMorph was giving Spyro and Cynder and impromptu tour. "And this is the mess hall," he said, "I presume several food fights have taken place here. Or there will be." Then he noticed Cynder's expression, "Something troubling you?" "It's just that, when Malefor last came into power, he corrupted me," said Cynder, "I'm afraid he's going to try and do it again."

Negamorph sighed sadly. He had all too much of a good idea it was to be controlled for someone elses ends. His entire existence with the empire had been that...and he hadn't realised it till the end. "You won't end up like that," said Spyro and NegaMorph at the same time. They both gave each other odd glances and NegaMorph said, "Ok, I get it, couples-only moment, I'll get back when you're done." Spyro watched as Negamorph melted into the shadows along the wall before turning back to Cynder. "Malefor won't do that to you again. I won't let him get that chance...ever." he said nuzzling her gently.

Just then, NegaMorph came back in and said, "Ok, then, my turn," he said. Spyro stepped aside and NegaMorph spoke to Cynder, "Cynder, I know what it's like to be enslaved by darkness. But you need to remember you can exist outside of it. Just look for what makes you special in the good way."

Spyro nodded. "Its true...you're not that dragoness that I defeated at Convexity anymore...she won't be able to come back...not ever." he said. Cynder nodded and said, "Thank you, both of you." "Now then," said NegaMorph, "How about I show you two to a bedroom and let you have some real alone time?"

--

Chloe was passing the mess hall when two fury blasts blew the door off its hinges and shot by her an inch from her nose, pushing Negamorph ahead of it. Pale, she peered round through the hole at Spyro and Cynder who were glaring. "Ok...are we having mood swings?" she said weakly, before looking at the groaning splat they were aiming their glare at that was Negamorph. "You are definitely Plasmorphs brother." she said.

"I can take acceptation to that," said NegaMorph. "Let me give you advice," said Chloe, "When you're playing matchmaker, don't rely on the Lust part of your powers." "I've got a lot to learn," moaned NegaMorph as he fell forward onto the floor. "Yep, you do," said Chloe.

--

Soon, the Nighthawk was within sight's range of Warfang. The city seemed to be in the middle of a mass construction project, which mostly consisted of fixing damages done during the war. "Take us in easy. Lets not spook anyone...those guns could do some damage...if any of them are operational." said Matt as the Nighthawk headed closer.

Suddenly one of the catapults launched a fireball towards them. The Nighthawk had to move to the side to avoid it. They heard a voice call, "Sorry, just testing the springs!" "Least they remember my ship...I think a few of us should go first...just in case. C'mon, Chloe...come n see the big city." Matt said, jokingly.

--

Spyro, Cynder, Matt and Chloe flew out of the Nighthawks open bay, the ship peeling off for another fly by as the dragons flew towards the wall. "Nice to see they've more or less fixed that tower the golem climbed up." said Matt.

"It sure did leave a mess," said Cynder, "But the moles look like they're patching everything up." "Yeah...thats good." said Matt, peering around. Some of the damage was still very obvious. Several buildings were burnt out husks and a few streets were still clogged with rubble but it was easy to imagine how the city would have looked in its prime and how it would look again. "Matt? Pay attention." said Chloe and Matt looked up to see four large dragons fling in their direction. Three he recognized as the remaining guardians but the fire dragon with them he didn't.

"Spyro, Cynder, Matt," said Volteer excitably, "It is so fortuitous that you are able to return. Many of us were in doubt as to the status of your well-being." Chloe looked at Matt who looked equally clueless. "Er...I think he said 'Hello...happy to see you're not dead'...I think." said Matt. Chloe nodded as the other dragons arrived. "Hi, Volteer. I missed you too. This is my sister, Chloe." said Matt, nodding in Chloes direction.

"Ah, Matt had mentioned you before," said Cyril, "He had mentioned you were a fighter of great potential. As well as any fighter who wasn't part of my heritage." Chloe shrugged. "You could say that. I like to think of myself as the sane half." she said. Matt glared as Spyro and Cynder smirked.

"We had been worried about you two," said Terrador, "At least we knew that Matt and Sonya were ok, but we didn't know what became of you. Where have you been?" Spyro explained what had happened, how he and Cynder had woken up on the other side of the planet, how they'd slowly made their way north back towards Warfang...and finally the run in with the droids. Matt and Chloe gulped under the stares that turned on them. The unknown guardian...obviously Ignitus's replacement finally spoke.

"So, Malefor is still alive," she said. Matt immediately noticed that this dragon was a female, a large ruby-colored one with horns that had a slightly ram-like curl to them. "Well, uh, that's a matter of speaking," said Matt.

"He's undead...a dracolyth...like a...old enemy we faced a while back. We can still beat him but we'll need alot of firepower to do it." said Chloe. "I suppose we would," said the Fire Guardian, "I assume you're going to stay and help us, seeing as it's your fault he escaped." "I'm sorry?" said Matt, coldly. "Steady." warned Chloe. Matt ignored her "And who might you be?" he said icily.

"She is Zara, we required a replacement for Fire Guardian when Sonya told us Ignitus had perished," said Terrador. "And is she psychic? I'm certain I didn't see her there when Malefor used the 12th armoured division for target practise at the volcano." said Matt nastily.

Zara growled angrily and Terrador said, "Enough, if we fight among ourselves, the battle will already be won for Malefor. Given his 'diseased condition', it will be unlikely that he will be launching an attack in the near future. But we must prepare for anything he might send our way." "I brought a proper warship and my crew run into this sort of thing twice a week." said Matt. "Unfortunately, he's right," said Chloe in a 'when-will-I-ever-get-a-break-from-this' tone in her voice.

Zara looked at the NSS Nighthawk as it circled outside the city. Matt said "We may be mercenaries but we're trustworthy." he said before flying down to the street and turning human to call the Nighthawk in to land.

--

Soon afterwards, the entire gang was taking in the sights of Warfang. They got many odd stares from the Dragons and Moles, especially Chip, Contrinus, and NegaMorph. It didn't help public relations that like all mercs, Matt's crew were impossible to seperate from their weapons though so far they'd been good and courteous to the inhabitants. Matt in particular was confised to see so many dragons around now. He was touring with Cyril and Terrador. "So...how many dragons left, are there?" he asked after they passed a house being reconstructed, a teenage dragon helping the moles by flying materials to the top of the building scaffolds.

"As many as before," said Cyril, "We've been scattered across the world during the war, but we've come back together to work on rebuilding this glorious city." "Good...Don't see many kids around." Matt said randomly commenting. "They were sent to a faraway place for their safety," said Terrador, "War is no game for young dragons. Present company excluded, of course." Matt nodded. "I'd protest I was 21 but you're probably about 890 or something." he said jokingly. Terrador gave a snort of annoyance and said, "Don't be foolish, I'm 670." Matt whistled. "And still kicking butt." he said, laughing. "So...I'm glad to see Sonya was ok." he said.

"Oh yes," said Cyril, "As soon as she met Smoldron, she felt much better. Though I'd prefer if a fine ice dragoness would want to link herself to my family. We go a long way back you know." Matt looked at Cyril with mute shock. "Ooook...I'm going to drop this subject." he said mock cheerfully. "Sooo.... where do you get the stone for rebuilding this place?" asked Chip, looking for a change in subject.

"There is a settlement of earth dragons east of here. They supplied us with the stone to rebuild Warfang." said Terrador. "Huh, must take weeks to get all the stone carved out and brought over here," said Chip. "It didn't take that long." said Cyril. "Didn't know you had a thing in construction," said NegaMorph. Chip shrugged and said, "A passing interest really. Computers are still my thing. Of course, that's in short supply here."

Matt sighed and said "So...how are we gonna deal with the dragon generals and Malefor? I can't remember that spell for removing them and I don't think it'd work for me anymore anyway." Terrador considered this and said, "There is a great library that is many miles from here. It holds several tomes on several subjects; dragon history, natural guides, and spell books. Perhaps one of those books hold the answer we seek." "Hmm...could be worth a try..." said Matt before stopping. "Wait...I can guess that people tend to vanish after entering it...correct?" he added.

"There have been rumors relating to that," said Cyril, "Of course, I pass them off as just unsubstantial tales to keep people away." "Given my luck, its probably some forgotten atlantean war machine that'll try to squish us the minute we arrive." said Matt and noticed the surprised stares of Cyril and Terrador. "Really...I know how my life works." "It's supposed to be a library, not an armory," said Chloe. "So? Remember the orbital archive in the Gorak sector? So was that." said Matt.

--

Meanwhile, Spyro and Cynder were off looking for Sparx. "I wouldn't think it'd be this hard to find him," said Cynder, "Normally, we'd either find him by his boisterous bragging or his girly screaming." "Matt said he was around here somewhere..." began Spyro and jumped as Sparx's familiar glow shot into view. "Bro. You're ok...I knew it." said Sparx happily.

"I'm glad to see you too, Sparx," said Spyro. "Yeah, me too," said Cynder, "Can't believe I said that." "I know I'm not gonna believe this either, but I miss you too," said Sparx, hugging one of Cynder's horns. "So...what was Malefor's expression like when you kicked his tail?" said Sparx, his usual cheeky self.

"Well, we weren't really the ones who brought him down," said Spyro, "I think it was the Ancestors that did it." "The Ancestors? But, aren't those guys supposed to be, you know, dead?" said Sparx. "I know," said Spyro, "It was their spirits." "Even Striker helped in the end." said Spyro, remembering when striker's spirit had jumped out of Matt had tackled Malefor just when he'd been about to break free. "Huh, sounds like a really big finish," said Sparx.

"I can't believe he managed to come back after that," said Cynder. "Yeah, well what's ya gonna- Whoa! Whoa! Wait a minute!" cried Sparx, "You're saying Malefor, the creepy, wants-to-destroy-the-world, evil dragon is back?" Spyro nodded. "Yes...we saw his handiwork back at where we found Matt." he said sadly.

"Ah man, just when I was getting used to all this peace," said Sparx. Cynder said "We succeeded once, we can succeed again." "Well, I certainly hope so," said Sparx. "I think we all do," said Spyro.

--

Meanwhile, Matt was trying to take his mind off things by watching the moles build through the Nighthawks port viewport. Eventually, Cynder and Smoldron came to him. "Hey Matt," said Sonya, "Um, we've heard about what happened to Kala." "You did...chip tell you?" Matt said, not turning to look at them.

"Actually, it was Chloe," said Sonya, "We briefly meet and she told what life's been for you while you've been gone." "Figured as much," said Matt as he looked through the ship's window to watch the moles work. "Look. From what Chloe told us, Kala's one tough nut to crack. I resisted Avarona and I was just a plain human so she shouldn't have any problem whatsoever." said Sonya. Matt finally turned sadly. "Thank you for trying to help...but this time round there's no magic spell to evict Avarona...do you understand?" he said.

"I'm disappointed with you," said Smoldron, "I've heard so many stories about you, and yet you turn out to be a quitter, a defeatist who gives up when matters seem slightly grim." Matt turned and Smoldron actually took a step back. Matt's eyes were glowing pure red. "What did you say?" said Matt in a tone more serious than a nuclear winter.

"If you had truly cared for Kala, you would continue fighting for her and find some way to change her back," said Smoldron, ignoring Matt's glare "At least, that I would presume the Matt I've heard about would do. I guess I was mistaken." Matt raised a hand and for a second a glowing energy ball, laced with dark energy appeared before Matt lowered his hand. "You're right...I can't give up on her." he said glumly.

"Now that sounds better," said Sonya, "Now how about we find out what to do about Kala? Shouldn't be that hard." Matt nodded before wincing and adding "Smeg. I think I just jinxed us."

**Poor Matt. You'd think he'd have learnt NOT TO SAY THINGS LIKE THAT!!! Worse, it looks like Anton has given Malefor ideas.**

**Read and review**


	4. Archival Misconduct

**Spyro, Cynder, and all other Spyro related characters are property of Sierra studios. **

**Draco, Contrinus, Chip and Cydra are property of my co-author, Cydra. **

**Matt, his merc team, the NSC and related tech, the ancients/atlanteans and malefors dragon generals are mine.**

**CPS Chronicles: Forgotten Blood**

**Chapter 3: Archival Miscondict  
**

The gang quickly got busy gathering supplies they'll need for their journey. If the trip to the library is going to be a long one, they might want to pack a few extra provisions, just in case. The gang were also trying to contact the NSC. They had no evidence that Neilsson or any other ships had escaped destruction and were trying to launch a message boey. Chip was also thinking ahead and fiddling with a connection to the orbital defence platforms which were sitting, waiting for the NightHawk to fly out the atmosphere fully so they could destroy them. "Ok, Chip...launch it."

Chip stuffed the boey into a cannon and fired it out. The boey went way up at a considerable speed. Techo followed the boey as it flew out into space. "C'mon...you can do it." he muttered. Just as they thought it was going to make it, a platform rotated to fire and obliterated the boey with a well aimed pulse of disrupter energy. "DAMMIT!" yelled Wilson.

"Yeah, had a feeling that would happen," said Chip, "That's why I added a 'Plan B' feature to that boey." Techo nodded "I take it that we got a connection then." he said. "We should," said Chip, "Now, if we can just link up the ship's computer to their optics..." The scanner monitor flickered into life, showing a straight down image of the surface of Avalar. The satellite they'd just linked too was actually showing Warfang itself. "Nice one, Chip." said Wilson, steering the ship back towards the surface of Avalar. "Least we got something outta this."

"Yep, this should give us an advantage in reconnaissance," said Chip, "Let's see if we can spot that library."

--

Meanwhile, back in Warfang, Chloe was walking down one of the streets of the city with Zara at the dragoness's request. "I have only heard of your brother from his exploits on this world," said Zara, "I think it would be prudent to know of his exploits on other worlds if we are to rely on him."

"I've been...out of contact with him for a year...but from what I've heard, he's made quite the name for himself." said Chloe and noticed Zara's gaze. "I don't know what mercenaries are like here but in Nullspace we tend to choose our contracts...we have standards and we never knowingly work for villains." As they walked along, several mercenaries from the ship were sitting in the shade of a wall, talking with some dragons who were taking a rest from the construction work.

Chloe noticed this and she said, "I think you overestimate the incapability's of our races." Zara nodded. "Many of us know what your people did to those who went to your world did to ours. Those type of ill feelings do not fade very well...but the stories of how your brother helped the dragon of destiny has helped to partially bridge these voids."

"I hope so," said Chloe. Suddenly, her stomach growled very loudly. Zara raised an eyebrow ridge in amusement. "You nearly sound like a dragon," she said. "I'll assume that's a compliment," said Chloe, "Um, you guys aren't strictly carnivores, are you?" Zara laughed. "No...thats just an...whats the word...urban legend. We can eat what we choose...though we do prefer meat." Chloe nodded. "Maybe I can get my brother to cook some hot dogs." she said, looking up at what was probably a road sign. "Dammit...I need to get Techo to upgrade our translators..."

Suddenly Chloe felt a stabbing pain through her head. She winced and grabbed at her temples. She rubbed them until the feeling went away. Her vision came back to reveal she'd been forced to her knees. Two crewmembers were helping her up and Zara asked "Miss Lynch. Are you well? Should we send for your ships healer?" Chloe shook the stars away and said "No...No, I'm good." she said. "I'm gonna head back to the ship." she said and without being told, glanced up at the sign before walking down a road that would lead back to the ship. "Hey...how'd she know which way?" said one of the mercs.

--

Meanwhile, Matt was perusing the local library in Warfang. He was trying to look up anything that could help defeat Malefor or remove the generals from their victims. A mole paced another stack of scrolls at the table he'd sat at. "You do know this is all in draconic...right?" he said to Matt who had already opened one and was reading it with ease. "What?" he said after a minute. The mole shrugged. "Nothing....call me if you need anything else." he said and walked off.

Now that Matt was aware of it, he noticed that all the letters were of a strange rune type. And the words they spelled were completely unfamiliar to him. Yet he was reading them as if it were English. "Ok...thats wierd." he said but shrugged. He'd never been told what the limits of translator nanites were and he presumed it had adapted. He shrugged and looked back down at the new scroll and noticed a picture for once. A note identified it as a building made by the newcomers.

Matt studied the picture. The building obviously couldn't have been crafted by dragons, seeing as how they lack the thumbs to pick up tools. And yet, it looked too modern to have been done by the moles. He also spotted several things on the picture which had obviously been the artists attempt at the same drones he had faced the last time he'd been in Avalar. "Oh hell...no wonder people have vanished." he said.

There were also a couple of notes of dragon families being slaughtered by the weapons of these 'newcomers', it rather a long line of detail. Matt sighed. "Guess the atlanteans weren't always whiter then white." he muttered.

Suddenly Matt heard arguing outside. He looked out a window to see a pair of dragons in apparent argument with two of his crewmembers. Matt groaned and said, "Now what?" as he headed for the door. Matt wandered out into the street to see that a small crowd had turned up. One of the two crewmembers was being held back by his partner.

"Ok, whatever's going on here, it's stopping now!" shouted Matt. He pointed at the crewmember who was being held back, "You, what have you been arguing with the dragons about?" "I didn't start it, sir. This guy suddenly got in my face when I was talking with my mate." said the crewmember angrily, pointing at the wind dragon who was looking smug. Matt transferred his glare, which would usually have worked...but then again, Matt forgot he had no reputation in Avalar. "Is there a reason you're on my crews case?"

"Because they're a pair of stinking dragonslayers," said the wind dragon. "That's not true!" said the other crewmember, "How could I be a dragonslayer if I've never seen a dragon before in my life?" Matt turned up the glare a few notches. "That would be a bit hard for me to miss...given I'd be a target too." he said to the dragon.

The dragon snorted and said, "All humans are dragonslayers. They can't stand any sentient being not like themselves so they ostracize them." "And what makes you such an expert on humans?" demanded Matt. "My mother told me how her parents went to a colony your people gave us...they never returned." said the dragon. Matt glared "For heavens sake, me and my sister are the only people from the ancients unive..." he said.

The wind dragon's eyes narrowed. "What was that?" he demanded. "Uh, nothing," said Matt, "It really is nothing. Nothing you could find any fault with. Just forget about-" Matt had to stop and jump aside to prevent being blown away by a powerful blast of air from the wind dragon. Matt landed back down in a crouch and saw the surprise on the crewmembers...which was nothing compared to his own. He got up in time to see the dragon charging him, head down and dodged it, grabbing the dragons left horn and pulling just hard enough to send him off balance. "You really want me to kick your butt? Drop it before I drop kick you." he said.

Suddenly the ground shook, sending them both off balance. "Enough!" shouted Terrador as he strode forward, "There shall be no fighting in here among own forces." Matt and the dragon turned around to see Terrador looking quite fearsome in his anger. "Oh...nothings happening...just a minor misunderstanding...its nothing and won't happen again. That right, boys?" he said to his men who nodded, pale faced.

The wind dragon decided not to push the issue further and slunk off along with his friend. "What was that about a colony?" said Matt, watching them go. "I know the NSC has some draconic colonies...but not avalar ones." "There are several stories about dragons from here living in colonies on a world filled with humans. No one's sure what happened, but those dragons have never been seen again." Said Terrador

Matt nodded. "Mr Black mentioned that Avalar had a colony when they were allied with his people." he said. "Guess you guys really do live a long time if its still living memory." "Indeed," said Terrador, "I suggest that your men should try to stay out of the public eye until you've endeared yourself more to the community." "On that, Techo said he and his engineer team could help out with the building..." said Matt when the Nighthawk, just arriving flew overhead. "...once he and Chip stop taking the ship for joyrides."

When Matt went over to where the Nighthawk landed, Techo had good news for him. "We've managed to get complete control over the satellite's sensors. We may not be able to keep them from firing at us, but we can use them as our own spy network." "Nice...I found out more about the archive...definitely an atlantean facility...complete with security devices." said Matt.

"Figures as much," said Techo. "By the way, I've managed to hack a little bit into the Banshee base network before it shut down," said Chip, "Didn't get too much, but enough to let us some things about. By the way, I found a mentioned of prisoners among the files." "Great...I bet Neilsson wanted some extra glory...did it mention names?" said Matt.

"Not really," said Chip, "Just that one of them was a huge bio-hazard threat." "Oh goody...nothing like a killer mutant...a trip just isn't complete without it..." said Matt sarcastically. "At least it isn't...him, hopefully."

--

Anton was waving the four cargo droids forward as they slowly pushed the mobile bio-containment cell forward. Malefor and his generals had been called over to watch. "How much longer must this go on?" said Raptor, "I have more important things to do today than to watch some simple humans scurry about."

"Oh...I guarantee you'll like this. This guys a certifiable nightmare...last time he met Lynch, he nearly tore him apart. Draco stopped him...not this time though, eh, Shard?" said Anton. Shard growled and said, "That's General Shard to you, half-breed. And this creature better be as impressive as Draco's memories indicate." "More...the emperor ordered upgrades after his last failure." he said and pressed the release. "You' better stand back from the hatch..." he said and walked behind the container.

Suddenly there was the sound of several blasts before approximately half of the container was blown away by what was inside. Tuatara jumped out of the container, snarling. He had been changed alot and it was clear not all of them were comfortable. His whole left arm had been replaced with a mechanical one, the claws being blades of tritanium. Several small cannons, still smoking were on the shoulders and the legs had hydraulics added. The chest armour now covered it entirely and must have been a few inches thick. "Who are you? Where are those NSC scum who put me in there?" he said.

"I am Malefor," said the Dark Master, "As for those who have imprisoned you, they are all dead, or soon will be." Tuatara didn't seem impressed at this and glared. "You took my prey...I can and should kill you now..." he said and paused as his new optics scanned Malefor and smirked "But it looks like I was beaten to it...the undead are no sport."

Malefor looked somewhat annoyed and said, "There are others from the NSC on this world, ones I think you are familiar with. I could guide you to them if you follow my commands." "I follow nobody...I only want one...the pack traitor...I WANT HIS HEAD!" said Tuatara angrily.

"And I thought Raptor was unstable," muttered Avarona. Tuatara turned and sniffed...before glaring at Avarona. "You...I know you...I'll kill you first...hurt the traitor more." he said. Tuatara leapt at Devina. But before he could reach her, Malefor struck him with a purple meteorite. "I suggest you not try that again," said Malefor, "Easily adaptable host bodies are hard to find here and Avarona's host's former identity is of no relevance now."

Malefor was silently impressed when Tuatara jumped up, undamaged. "She is the mate of the traitor...I want him to suffer." he snarled but didn't attack. Malefor looked at Avarona with bemusement. Devina and Raptor both snickered under their breaths. Avarona however kept to what was important. "Is it really wise to use this creature?" she said. "She has a point," said Shard, "He seems incapable of thinking beyond material terms."

Tuatara hissed at Shard and turned to Malefor. "Your pack lacks discipline..." he said and stopped as Anton spoke. "The pack traitor is here, commander...and the purple one knows where you can find him...and kill him or whatever it is you wanna do to him." Tuatara turned to Malefor with a worryingly hungry look in his eyes. "Tell me where I may find him."

"All in due time," said Malefor, "You have to earn it first. Which should be no problem if you're as strong as you look." Tuatara glared. "What do you want me to do?" Anton spoke. "We need to get into a heavily guarded facility north of here...you're perfect...find these." he said and holograms of two crystals appeared. "Preferably both...but either will work...get them and you'll get matt's location."

Tuatara growled and said, "Something tells me there will be more that just those two crystals in this facility. How will I be able to find them?" Anton smirked. "Easy...you just make sure I get in there...I'm coming too." he said before looking at Malefor. "I'm guessing you don't trust me that much..." Malefor eyed them both and said, "Trust must be earned. And you should both hope not to fail this."

--

Meanwhile, Matt and the gang were preparing their own expedition...and Matt was also learning that trust is earned he stood in front of Zara. "We do not need chaperoning around Avalar." he said angrily. "You do not know these lands as well as we do," said Zara, "You could easily start a feud with another tribe."

"What? Are you saying I don't look diplomatic?" Matt said. Sadly he said this with one of Techo's plasma rifles over his shoulder, his ion blade in a holster and full combat gear on. Zara gave him an 'are-you-kidding' look? "Oh, c'mon," said Matt, "I'm as diplomatic as the next guy. Right gang?"

The rest of the gang were there and suddenly did an impression of the synchronized sky inspection team, except for chloe who was laughing her head off. "Thank you sooo much for the support." said Matt darkly. He turned and said "Fine...do I get to choose my chaperones? To make sure I don't accidently blow the planet up?" Techo muttered "...Again." and chloe started laughing again.

To further Matt's annoyance, Zara seemed to be on the brink of laughing herself. "Very well," she said as soon as she could manage a straight face, "Who would you prefer?" Matt nodded. "Spyro and Cynder. I travelled with them and I think they'd be one of only a few dragons who won't try to beat the hell out of me or my crew." he said.

Zara considered this for a moment and said, "Very well. Though I had hoped you would have picked a fully grown dragon." Matt looked sceptical. "You do know what he did to get famous...do you?" "Of course," said Zara, "Only they lack the wisdom that only comes with age." "So? Who else do you suggest?" said Matt.

"I might have sent Xephros, only you two had a rather noticeable disagreement today," said Zara. Chloe stopped laughing at that. "You beat up a dragon?" she said in shock. Matt turned. "No...the little jerk started it."

"Zara may have a point," said Cyril, "Spending time with you humans might be what Xephros needs to broaden his mind." "Great...why not invite sonya...have a proper reunion?" said Matt, meaning it as sarcastically...sadly he forgot that sarcasm wasn't practised much on avalar which was why, five minutes later he was sitting outside his ship, waiting for the dragons to turn up...oh and being yelled at by Chloe.

Matt turned to NegaMorph and said, "If I ever make a sarcastic request again, hit me." "Ok," said NegaMorph and punched Matt in the side. As Matt winced in pain, NegaMorph said, "Oh, do you mean right now or the next sarcastic request you make?" "The next one." snarled Matt. Negamorph shrugged. "Ok..." he said and hit Matt again. So it was, when Spyro, Cynder, Sparx and Xephros came round the corner they saw Matt attempting to choke Negamorph to death with chloe attempting to break them up.

As Xephros watched Chloe try to break the two apart, he muttered to Spyro and Cynder, "Not exactly his proudest moment, is it?" "I don't think he's had it yet," said Cynder. Chloe looked up and for a second her eyes seemed yellow. "Hey, guys..." she hissed and Matt and Negamorph looked over to see Spyro and co. "Oops...Hi...erm...combat drill." Sparx muttered "Well...its not the worst excuse he's given."

Xephros gave a small snort and said, "Even if second impressions counted, you're making this one as poor as your first one." "Oh, bite me." said Matt, annoyed by now. "We'll wait till Sonya and Smoldron get here and then you can get back to hating my guts, Xephros."

"I don't think I'd be tempted to do so," said Xephros, "You look like you may have an unpleasant taste to you. Not to mention it looks like it's been a while since you last bathed." Matt almost pulled out his gun then and there, choosing instead to hiss at Xephros "My sis and me aren't as human as we look." Luckily, Sonya and Smoldron arrived at that point. "I'm saved...can we please go before My brother and the windbag kill each other?" said Chloe.

"Although, in Xephros' defense, Matt has been generating some serious BO," said NegaMorph. Matt turned and did pull his gun pout this time, blasting Negamorph into a splat on the wall. "Someones in a bad mood today." said Negamorph weakly as Matt stomped aboard. "Well, it's not like you couldn't see that one coming," said Chloe as she peeled NegaMorph off the wall.

"Totally worth it." said Negamorph, getting back into shape and noticing the horrified gazes of Sonya, smoldron and Xephros. "Oh, get it over with..." he said glumly. "I knew you humans were barbaric," said Xephros, "But I'd never thought you'd stoop to befriending..." "Mutant space urchins," said Sonya. "Thank you," said NegaMorph sarcastically, "I'll send you a gift basket later." Smoldron looked at Negamorph more closely. "You don't look too bad." he said. "You should have seem some of the creatures that were where we were when we hid from General cyn...oh, sorry." he said remembering who else was there.

"Can we get a move on before this gets any more awkward?" said Chloe with annoyance.

--

The archive sat on a plateau in the middle of a huge ruined metropolis that was barely visible from the jungle overtaking it. A huge single building surrounded by a high wall, the landing area nearby was clear from two smashed ships sitting in the courtyard. "Nice place." commented Techo before adding "And how is our resident xenophobe?" referring to Xephros who had not adhered himself to the crews good graces during the 45 minute trip.

"I think he's still getting used to the fact that Chip is alive," said Chloe. "Yes...I heard about that...and how is Smoldron taking to his first starship flight." said Matt, who was looking at some of the scans of the archive, looking for a clear landing area.

"He's mostly amazed at how fast this thing can move," said Sonya, "Only, I think watching the landscape zip by so quickly is making him nauseous." Matt nodded. "He'll be fine...as long as his barf isn't flammable." he said as an empty landing pad, only covered by some vines, came into view.

The Nighthawk settled down with a bump onto the landing pad and immediately lights, half-hidden by the vines turned on and two mechanical arms grabbed the ship. Techo waved a reassuring hand. "Don't worry...its some kinda automated docking feature..." and everyone winced as a telepathic message, the preferred method for Atlantean A.I's to announce messages, said "Welcome to the Dominia Archive, home of the largest culmination of Avalarian and Atlantean information in the void. Please note that this is a neutral area and no conflict is authorized."

"Ok, important thing to remember," said Matt, "No fighting in the library. Or else we get put through the paper shredder." Xerphros came in on Matt as he and Chloe were getting ready, loading up various weapons. "I thought you said no weapons." he said. Matt turned. "I just said no fighting...go get ready...I trust you want to come." he said.

"Seeing as how much knowledge is here, it would be a waste not to see what's inside," said Xerphos. "Good...so...have you been in many fights?" Matt said. "Quite a few," said Xerphos, "I was defending a different outpost during the war so that's you haven't seen me before." "Good...now play nice...nobody walks off alone so two of my staff are going with you...for protection...if you object you can stay aboard." said Chloe, looking at Matt too and adding "That goes for both of you."

--

Fortunately, the doors weren't that hard to open. All that was holding them closed were several overgrowing vines. Inside were stacks of shelves of half-rotted scrolls and cracked message crystals. However the main thing that caught the attention of the group was a huge hole in both the roof and the floor below...perfectly circular. "Damn...did Malefor do that?" said Wilson to the dragons.

"I doubt that," said Matt, "I don't think he has anything that could blast a hole like that." Chloe however nudged Matt to where Cynder, Spyro and Xephros were looking at a scroll that had fallen open. He couldn't see the writing but the image was clearly that of Cynder...at least her adult form. "This place has alot of bad memories...Techo...this is all Avalarian...where's the ancient tech?" said Chloe. Techo pointed down the hole. "Down there...but we'll need to go to the very bottom...and we're not alone." he said. Matt looked confused "How'd you know that?"

Wilson had wandered over to the edge of the hole and pulled up a coil of what was clearly a rappel rope. "Oh...just a little clue." he said, pointing out an imperial insignia. Matt rolled his eyes and said, "Great, pile that on top of everything else? Why can't the nonviolent missions ever be easy?" "What nonviolent missions?" said Chloe. Matt raised a finger. "Point to you." he said and tried to walk to Spyro and Cynder were only for Xephros to get in his way. "Hey...out the way, windbag...I'm not in the mood."

"I'm sorry, but this is 'dragon's only' business," said Xephros, in a tone that made it obvious that he wasn't sorry at all. Matt's eyes began to glow red and Xephros failed to notice the end of matts gloves ripping open slightly to let claws poke through. "I said, out the way or I'll have you taken back to the ship and thrown in the brig. My ship, my mission, MY RULES!" he said, the last part shouted and getting Spyro and Cynders attention.

"Uh, Xephros," said Spyro, "I'd back off if I were you. Matt's been known to get really nasty when he loses his temper and you're just pushing him to the edge." Matt walked by Xephros and followed Spyro's gaze to his gloves. "Dammit." he muttered before concentrating. The claws slowly vanished. "That guys really getting up my nose. I wanna turn dragon just to spite him...and wipe that smugness off his face." said Matt.

"You may get that chance sooner than later," said Spyro, "But I really don't think the librarian here would like you causing a ruckus." Matt nodded and looked down at the scroll that they'd been looking at. As far as Matt could work out...it was the avalarian equilivent of a wanted poster. "Dammit...hey...its nothing." he said, picking up the scroll and throwing it as far as he could.

"You don't think there would be an index we could look to find the spellbooks, is there?" asked Chip. "We could ask the A.I...it is a librarian." he said. The A.I did speak then. "I'm sorry...the magical sections were destroyed by a type 6 polaron beam 405.23 cycles ago." it said.

"Well, that's splendid," said Contrinus sarcastically, "We come all this way and find there's nothing to look for." "However your colleagues are on sub level 6. Shall I inform them of your arrival?" continued the A.I. "NO!" yelled everyone at the same time. Techo said "Where are the military maps?". The A.I was silent before saying "The military archives are on sub level 6...I'm sorry...gravity lifts are offline due to battle damage...city maintenance has been informed."

"Well, as long as we're here," said Chloe, "We better make sure those other guys don't get what they came for either." Matt nodded "Rule 2...if the bad guys want something...you want it first."

--

The way down to the sub levels however was only via the hole. Luckily whoever was snooping around had left their rappel equipment behind and of course, the dragons could just glide down to the floor. Matt pulled out a blaster and shone its light down a side corridor. "Ok...nobody walk off alone...thats usually a recipe for disaster." said Chloe, pulling out a energy rifle.

"And don't activate your weapons until you know you have to," said Chip, "The librarian is going to know we'll be fighting and I'd prefer it to be later than sooner." Matt looked at Xephros. "You're with the corporals...and play nice."

The group split up three ways, Spyro, Cynder, and Sparx went off with the experiments, Chloe went with Wilson and Techo, while Matt was stuck with Xephros and a couple of marines. "Look. I'm as unhappy with this as you." said Matt, annoyed as Xephros complained for the 5th time.

"I still think that 'dividing up' was rigged," said Xephros, "I'd even prefer to go with those 'alien' creatures than you lot." Matt sighed. "We're alone...no comms...and possible hostiles to blame accidents on...DON'T PUSH ME!" he said angrily.

"What are you going to do? Strangle me?" said Xephros. "Don't tempt me," said Matt, "Although that long neck of yours looks really easy to squeeze." One of the marines smirked and said something in splitter. Matt smirked too. "What did he say?" said Xephros. Matt sniggered "Oh...something about he would help me bury the body." he said and treasured Xephros's look of fury.

They walked by the door of what was a storage facility. 'Was' is the key term as nearly everything in it was damaged in some way. In fact, there wasn't even a door. It was just a gaping hole where the door used to be. Matt raised a hand and Xephros looked around as the two marines dropped to their knees, aiming forward. "You two stay here with windbag while I check it out." Xephros glared and said "My name is not Windbag, you...human."

Matt didn't bother to comment on the lack of creativity in Xephros' insults as he went into the room and looked to see if there was anything of significance in there. After five minutes, Xephros was getting bored. "Stupid human. I coulda found whatevers in there by now." he said and heard an 'urk' behind him followed by a wet thump.

Xephros paused and said, "Odd, I thought these chambers were watertight." He looked down to see one of the marine's head lying near his feet... several feet away from his body. Xephros's frightened gaze travelled along the blood trail to see some kind of monster impaling the last marine in the claws on its hand...the 'urk' he had heard. The...creature turned its gaze on him. "Who are you?" it hissed, the voice distorted by its mechanics.

For once, Xeprhos was without his tongue. All he could manage was a few frightened pants and squeaks. "You have the scent of the traitor on you...where is he?" the creature said, tossing the marine aside. "I'd answer him if I was you." said a voice behind the creature. Another human in jet black combat armour walked from behind the creature. "Tuatara tends to despise being ignored. I am Colonel Anton...greetings." he said.

"If figures such a monstrosity would work with a human," said Xephros. Anton laughed loudly and said, "Not even close." Xephros looked confused. Anton smirked. "A demonstration perhaps? I can get into a form more comfortable to you..." he said and changed to a dark grey dragon form. "Ah well...to business...where is Captain Lynch? I have no quarrel with you...but Malefor wants Matthew dead."

Xephros was completely at a loss for words. All he could do was gape in astonishment. Anton sighed and said, "Tuatara, our friend here seems to be a bit tongue-tied. Do you think you could help loosen him up?" Tuatara, at that picked up Xephros by grabbing him round the middle and lifting him effortlessly. "Now then, Tuatara does not have my patience...if you don't start talking I will be forced to have him pull one of your wings off." he said. He walked up to Xephros and absently said "Did you know that a dragons wing has several major arteries in it to supply the necessary blood. You'd go into severe shock if say...one was pulled off at the shoulder." he said.

Xephros was able to get his wits back and said, "Well, if you actually told me who you were looking for instead of just threaten to dismember me, you'd get more information out that way." "Captain Lynch...those were his men." said Anton, gesturing to the dead marines. Tuatara pulled Xephros so they were nose to nose. "His actions did this to me...I want his head." he snarled.

"Oh he may be nearby," said Xephros, "Of course where exactly I'm not sure. Could be anywhere at all, where you least expect him." Anton sighed. "Fine...Tuatara...break his front paw...neatly please." he said as if ordering injury was a chore.

Tuatara considered this for a second and said, "Which one? And should I cripple it or just tear it off?" "Break it...if he cooperates maybe Malefor will find him a job." said Anton. "Wait, you two work for Malefor?" said Xephros, "I've hear that he employs all sorts of evil creatures, but this is on a whole different level." "Yes...but its mostly just so we don't get killed ourselves...so...you going to help us or should I let Tuatara get creative?" said Anton, turning back to human.

"Oh, let's stop delaying," said Tuatara, "We'll see if any truth comes out along with the screams." Xephros struggled as Tuatara got a grip on his left wing and started to slowly start to pull on it, increasing the strength. "Where...is the pack traitor?" said Tuatara almost soothingly as he pulled harder and harder. Suddenly a pulse of plasma hit Tuatara in the mid section, throwing him down and making the cyborg drop Xephros to the ground. Anton spun around in time for a stunning shot to throw him to the floor. "Right here, ugly. Hey, Xephros..are you ok?" said Matt, hand still glowing with plasma energy.

Xephros stared at amazement for a second and said, "I think I am now." He seemed to be fighting something back but then said, "Thank you." "Its fi..." began Matt and was thrown down the corridor as a pulse of golden energy hit him in the back. Tuatara stood up, roaring angrily and lunged at Matt who was only just standing up. The cyborg pulled Matt up the rest of the way and lifted him up so hard Matt banged his head on the roof before he delivered a punch that must have felt like a hit from a bullet train, smashing Matt through a connecting wall. Matt managed to get up, spitting blood. "Go...get outta here." he yelled, firing into Tuatara to no effect.

Tuatara was about to slash Matt in half when a large amount of wind buffeted against him. He was too heavy to be blown away, but it certainly did distract him. Tuatara turned round to see Xephros preparing another wind blast. "You wish to die with him? Fine." he hissed and ran at the dragon.

Matt slammed his hand on the ground, causing a small wave of plasma to come out and melt the floor as it went. Within seconds, Tuatara felt like he was stuck in a tar pit. He roared angrily and literally began tearing the floor up to get out. Matt managed to limp over to Xephros. "...Time to...go." he said weakly. Xephros nodded and helped Matt get up.

--

Meanwhile, in another part of the complex, Chloes group had bumped into Spyro and the others. "This place is a maze...you guys find anything?" said Techo. "Not yet," said Spyro, "We should have come across those other guys by now." Chloe pulled out a comm. "Matt? Matt, you there?" she said. Nothing but static answered her questions. Sonya gulped. "I may not be a mercneary anymore but thats never good."

"I don't really know how that thing works, but I agree," said Sparx, "I think we need to go check up on him." Suddenly a siren began to ring. "Warning. Protocols breached. Weapon fire detected in secure archive 13, Chakra division. All organics now being reassessed."

"Uh, what do you think it means be 'reassessed'?" asked Contrinus. Techo said "Oh...just means its deciding if it should shoot us...or....not." his voice trailing off. "Right," said NegaMorph, "I move that we not stay in one place very long." Spyro, Sonya and Cynder all looked ready to fight, having had experience with ancient A.I defences. Only Smoldron looked concerned.

"What kind of weapons would this thing have?" he asked. "Lots of very nasty weaponry that can slice and dice us." said Techo. The A.I chimed again "Re-assessment complete. All on-facility units now designated hostiles. All on-site Shar-khan privileges now suspended." "And that would be our cue to grab Matt and Xephros and leave," said Wilson.

As they turned to leave a man in a jt black uniform with the empire insignia on it stepped round a corner, holding a blaster. Several droids came into view too. "You're not going anywhere...surrender." said the human. Nobody noticed several sections of the roof and upper walls starting to ripple and move.

"Oh, I so don't have time for this," said Chloe as she took the safety off her weapon and opened fire. The droids this time seemed different, apart from looking factory fresh, they had a shard of purple crystal embedded where the power cell would usually be. This seemed to act as a partial shield as it took a direct hit to stop them...glancing blows were useless.

"They've got dark crystals in them," said Sonya, "Blasting will be useless. You have to smash them physically." Techo shrugged and pulled out a desert eagle handgun from his backpack and shot a round into a crystal. It took three shots but it did work. "This is bad." said Chloe from her cover before noticing the dragons looked tired...in fact she felt fatigued. "Dammit...have they got tranq gas?" she said as a laser bounced off her cover, knocking a chip off it.

"Let me handle them," said NegaMorph as he fired a stream of fangs straight at the crystals. Several of the droids didn't just crumple...they exploded as the crystals went critical. However a new problem arrived as two destroyer droids rolled into view. Their leader called "Ok...hand over the ones called Cynder and Spyro and you go free. Its your only chance."

Chloe turned to the experiments and said, "Contrinus, try to distract them. Chip, hack them figuratively. NegaMorph, hack them literally." Chip and Negamorph were about to carry out the orders when more weapon fire began, this time sporadic panic fire. Chloe peered out to see clusters of crystalline insectoid machines swarming the droids, stabbing and blasting them. The human leader fell with a shriek as the atlantean droids stabbing him in the back and neck. A few of the newcomer droids turned to peer at the group, their optics glowing blood red. The first few leapt angrily at Cynder only for a blast of ice breath from Spyro to freeze them in midair.

"I think it's time we made our getaway," said Sparx. "For once, I agree with you," said Sonya. There was a yell ahead as more of the insectoid drones detached from the walls and ceiling where they'd been sitting flush with the surface to leap out. They did however see Xephros and Matt at the end of a hall, Matt firing blasts into clusters of the droids, blowing up several with each blast.

"Well, that settles the regrouping problem," said Techo. Matt turned to look at them, revealing how beaten up he looked. He was yelling something at them. "Whats he saying?" said Spyro and jumped as a side wall exploded outward. Tuatara pushed the rest of the wall aside and stomped through, a dark grey dragon in tow.

"I think he was warning us about that!" yelled NegaMorph as he shot several nega-blasts at Tuatara. Tuatara simply soaked up the shots before firing some kind of white energy that caused huge pain to Negamorph on contact.

"Chip, you think you can disable Tuatara?" asked Wilson. Chip took one glance at Tuatara and said, "Without being torn to shreds myself? Not likely." However a few dozen drones jumped on Tuatara, having decided he was the largest threat. The mutant screamed and began trying to claw them off. The dragon however shimmered, turning into Anton. "Very nicely done." he said, ignoring the drones.

"Oh no, he's a Shar-Virk too?" said Chloe as she threw a lightning bolt at Anton. Anton smirked, blocking the bolt. "You didn't catch on that night in paris?" he said annoyingly before sending a sonic pulse down the corridor. Chloe barely dodged the blast and said, "I assumed that you a new brand of Johnson's super soldiers." "Please...Johnsons weapon programs are millennia behind us...hand over Cynder and the purple dragon..." said Anton, pulling out a ion blade with a dark grey gem set into it.

"Over my dead body," said Chloe as she pulled out hers. Anton smiled and said, "Oh, how I love that cliché. I never get tired of hearing it." Anton continued. "I have 300 years more experience then you...you sure you want to fight?" he said and lunged without awaiting an answer.

Meanwhile, Contrinus was giving Matt a quick 'patch-job'. He wasn't fully healed, but at least he could fight. He jumped up to swipe a few drones aside. "I got two crystals before Tuatara turned up." he said, pulling out two green crystals. "What good are those?" asked Chip as he hotwired one to attack Anton. "The writing was in atlantean AND draconic...they're data crystals." said Matt. He heard a cry from Chloes direction and his eyes narrowed. He passed the crystals to chip. "Look after Wind...Xephros. I have to go rip Anton's head off." he said before running at Anton, transforming to dragon as he went.

Chip glanced back and saw Xephros with his jaw hanging several inches from the rest of his head. "Oh, right," said Chip, "I guess you haven't heard about that yet." Anton was about to stab Chloe when Matt jumped on his back and sunk his teeth into Antons arm.

Anton cried out in pain and flung Matt forward. Anton examined his wound before saying, "Biting, Mr. Lynch. Do you really resort to that primitive a level of fighting?" Anton suddenly smirked. "Ah yes...the final stages..." he muttered and was forced to block a pulse of plasma that Matt spat at him. Anton added "Been having headaches?" "How did you know about that?" asked Matt and Chloe at the same time. They glanced at each other and said, "You too?"

Anton laughed before sending a sonic pulse that sent the lynches flying. He ran past them, knocking Xephros and Chip aside. "Tuatara...time to go." He yelled, holding up one of the two crystals he'd snatched from Chip. "Hey! I was holding that!" yelled Chip only to get knocked aside by Tuatara and landed in an awkward position that was hard for him to get back on his feet from.

However the A.I spoke again. "Alert...Shar-Virk detected on grounds...protocol 53/1 active...self destruct engaged." "Oh, not again," said Chip as he struggled to right himself, "Does every base with an AI in it have a self-destruct mode?" Techo glared. "Who cares? Leg it." "Don't you think I've been trying?!" shouted Chip as he tried to get up only to fall back down, "Blitznak."

Wilson sighed and picked Chip up before running along. When they arrived at the hole however Anton had left the ropes in place. "Thats nice of him...or stupid..." said Techo. "Who cares?" said Chloe as she was hauling NegaMorph's weakened form behind her, "We need to get out of here before this place blows."

Matt transformed and flew up with the dragons as the others scaled the ropes as fast as they could. The group ran down the outside stairs of the archive just in time as a blue pulse shot over the rock of it, making it shudder uncontrollably before collapsing in on itself. "I hope Mr Black doesn't find out about this..." muttered Matt as the group watched the archive fall apart.

"Eh, it was ruined anyways," said NegaMorph, "Probably nothing worth anything left in there." Techo and Chip turned to glare. "It had 5000 years of ancient data in there." said Techo. "That place had vast amounts of knowledge from the past," said Chip, "all of it gone, in one minute. How can you not consider that a waste?" "Erm...Matt did it." said Negamorph before running onto the ship.

Matt looked like he was about to send a plasma ball after NegaMorph before shaking his head and saying, "Forget it. What's gone is gone and there's no use worrying over it." Matt took the last crystal off Chip and looked at it. "I wonder whats so important about this...what are you planning, Malefor?"

--

Anton stood before Malefor in the new 'throne room' he had created for himself with Tuatara. "I told you Tuatara would deliver." he said. "And indeed he has," said Malefor, "You have done well for your first mission. Of course, the destruction of the archive is not something I wanted." "So? You couldn't have used any of it...the A.I would have killed you the minute it detected you. Now...we know where the devices are...your generals will know exactly what I mean...they were the first targets." said Anton before pressing his hand to a apparent scratch in the data crystal in his hand. It blazed into life, showing a perfect globe of Avalar. Anton pressed a few images on the globe and two dots appeared on it. "There they are...two of the three Chakra devices."

Malefor's brows furrowed. "Two out of three?" he said. "The third one was moved to an orbital facility established a few years after your defeat...It must have not been added to this map...or its classified." said Anton.

"And how do we know Spyro and his friends do not know about it?" said Malefor. "They may have gotten the copy...but it'll take a genius to know what the chakra devices are." said Anton. "Don't they have one that's designed to be a super genius?" said Malefor, remembering what Shard had told him from Draco's memories.

Anton's smirk promptly vanished and said, "You're right, something's got to be done about him." Tuatara stepped up. "I will kill the machine." he said. Anton sighed., "Yeah...you'll blend in so well in a dragon city. No...we need to lure them to us." Malefor grinned, stretching what little skin was left around his mouth. "I think I know someone who would be perfect for the job," said Malefor.

**Oh dear…what are these Chakra Devices that Malefor is hunting for? Find out next time.**


	5. Closure

**Spyro, Cynder, and all other Spyro related characters are property of Sierra studios. **

**Draco, Contrinus, Chip and Cydra are property of my co-author, Cydra. **

**Matt, his merc team, the NSC and related tech, the ancients/atlanteans and malefors dragon generals are mine.**

**CPS Chronicles: Forgotten Blood**

**Chapter 4: Closure**

Devina sat on the plateau. Malefor had told her all about how Cynder had used it during her time as one of his generals and that had given her the idea for this plan. Hopefully the gormless humans would bring the golem with them. "How much longer?" she said impatiently to where Anton and some of his men were fiddling with an NSC emergency beacon.

"Any moment now," said Anton, "This is an intricate machine. It won't be useful for anyone until its wiring is completely set." "Just get it done." said Devina angrily before turning back to keep an eye out. "Got it." said Anton finally as the top of the beacon opened up to let a satellite dish emerge. "If they're listening they'll be here in 20 minutes." he said triumphantly. "Excellent," said Devina, "I've been looking for some good sport for a long time."

Anton nodded. "We'd better be careful we don't kill that Spyro guy or that Cynder charac..." he said and gulped as Devina glared. "First of all, I rank above you, so you can only give me suggestions, not orders," said Devina, "Second off, Malefor is not the only one that has a grudge against the little black she-wyrm. I will obey the Dark Master's wishes to bring her alive, but I will not guarantee she will arrive unharmed and you have no power to change it otherwise, understand?"

Anton smirked. "Well...I'll remember that..." he said rudely. One of his men suddenly looked up. "We got an NSC signal approaching...three life signals...I think it's Lynch. Anton frowned. "Thats fast...even for him...ah well...show time."

--

Meanwhile, as the beacon was being set up, one of the two shuttlepods from the nighthawk was flying above the cloud line. Matt had finally decided to give Spyro the flying lesson he'd wondered about the last time Matt had been to Avalar. "Easy...remember...despite it speaking...computers are dumb...they follow commands to the letter...and I really mean that." he said, adding "Being sarcastic is usually a bad idea...part of the reason Sparx wasn't invited."

"So, these things are all voice-command?" asked Cynder, "I don't think using our teeth on these controls would be a good thing." "Yeah...whatever you do...never tell it to drop it...I did that on training...lucky it was just a simulator." said Matt. "Drop what?" asked Spyro. "I told it to drop everything...so it ejected me." said Matt. He'd never really gotten over that little incident.

"Well, I suppose you can't really expect something you've built to be really smart," said Cynder. Matt shot her an annoyed look. "Oh, but your alien friends are different," said Cynder quickly, "Say, whatever happened to Genghis?" "Last I heard he got transferred to a front line medical station in the Badlands...he sends his greetings...I called him before the mission." said Matt. One of the computer consoles started beeping and Matt wandered over to take a look. "Hmm...hey guys...up for a small detour? Looks like my crew weren't the only survivors." he said after seeing the S.O.S frequency displayed.

"That's good news," said Spyro, "We could use some more help to deal with Malefor." "Thats true...unless Neilssons there. You wouldn't like him and believe me when I say the feeling would be mutual." said Matt, taking the controls. "Its coming from near the plateau where the Maelstom star originally landed...weird place to hide." he added.

--

The area where the beacon was appeared to be a 'island' separate from the main plateau. Cynder shuddered as she caught sight of the fortress she'd called home for several years. "Relax," said Spyro, "That place has been empty for years. There's nothing inside but memories." Cynder nodded sadly. "Yes...memories." Matt turned around at her words. "How about when we find these guys we ask them to plant a few C-12 charges in that place?" he said cheerfully.

"It's just old stone," said Cynder, "It's harmless now. Besides, I think we may need those bombs in the future." Matt nodded. "Ok...it can be a giant firework once we've kicked Malefor back to hell...or wherever he was." he said. He looked down at the sensor reading. "Well...there's the beacon...but I don't see anyone."

"Wait, something about this seems familiar," said Cynder. "Well," said Spyro, "This was your base of-" "No, not the location, the set-up," said Cynder, "I don't think I've experience this before, but if feels so familiar." "Yeah...this set up does smell suspicious..." said Matt but never finished as the console next to him exploded, knocking him unconscious over the control panel and making the whole ship rock violently to port. "Warning...incoming Imperial AA fire." chimed the computer.

"Uh, Spyro, you do know enough to fly this thing, right?" asked Cynder. "No, do you?" asked Spyro. "No, this means we're gonna crash, doesn't it?" "Probably." Said Cynder Then the two dragons started screaming as the ship started to head towards the ground. "Autopilot engaged...caution...unknown lifeform approaching." chimed the computer. Suddenly there was a metallic tearing noise and part of the wall was torn off to reveal Devina flying alongside, holding one of the shuttles engines. Matt was just starting to stir.

"Ugh, what just happened?" asked Matt as he sat up. He saw Devina and his voice became thick with fear, "What is she doing here?" The next statement however was filled with outrage, "And what has she done to my ship?" Devina smirked. "I suppose you won't surrender..." she called and rolled, laughing to avoid a blast from Matt who had pulled a laser from a locker and was shooting at her.

"Uh, Matt," said Spyro, "I know she's an enemy and all, but you think you can ignore her long enough to pull this ship out of a collision course?" Matt wasn't listening but laughed nastily as Devina looked ahead and suddenly peeled away. "Hah...what did you say, Cyn...oh crap." he said as the wall of the plateau loomed large. He lunged for the control and pulled back as hard as he could. The crippled ship managed to just pull up but tore off its other engine as it clipped the cliff, sending it skimming over the dirt and finally wedging at the end of one of the mini-canyons with a thump. "Well...all in all...that landing was one of my best." said Matt, who was against the far wall, upside down.

"Warning, approaching electrical storm detected," said the computer, "Wind speed and electrical output determined too hazardous. Suitable shelter must be acquired." "But there's nowhere except..." said Matt and Cynder finished in a shaking voice "...My fortress."

"Oh goody," said Matt, "We get to wait out a thunderstorm inside an abandoned place of evil. Sounds like something straight out of a ghost story." Matt stopped smirking under Spyro's glare and Cynder's sad one. "Sorry...but lets go before we're fried to a crisp or blown off the plateau." he said apologetically.

Matt pulled a survival pack and a pulse rifle out of a locker and opened the door. The storm was already overhead, the plateau practically inside the cloud itself. As a result proto-lightning was earthing everywhere. "Oh, this looks fun." said Matt sarcastically. "Ok, that eliminates flying," said Spyro, "We'll have to walk."

The trio headed out as fast as they could for the fortress, everyone carrying something in the way of supplies. Unfortunately Matt's luck with lightning had not improved since his last visit, resulting in him being struck by lightning about 6 times. "I hate this weather..." muttered Matt.

Suddenly Spyro heard something in the cloud cover. "You hear something?" he said. "Aside from the crackling of my hair, no," said Matt. Suddenly, several grublins appeared and charged them. The grublins were quick to get blasted but it seemed that there was an endless supply. "We gotta get inside now...I've only got so many bullets." said Matt, blasting a trio of Grublins. The three ran into the fortress, Matt bringing up the rear yelling "SHUT THE SMEGGING DOOR!" However his sanity was not helped when he noticed that instead of a nice sturdy gate there were two giant pillars with crystals on the top on either side of the doorway. "Who stole the door?" he gibbered.

"Just get inside, we'll create a barrier," said Spyro as he started breathing ice behind him. Matt ran inside just as the first Grublins arrived. Cynder also ran inside. She headed straight for a wall and hit against one protruding stone, causing it to press in. The crystals seemed to react to that, a wall of energy appearing between the trio and the grublins, vaporising one grublin that didn't stop in time. The grublins just stood in front of the wall in a fashion that reminded matt of empire droids waiting for the next order to turn up. "Nice one, Cynder. How'd you know about the switch?" he said.

"I'm... not really sure," said Cynder, "I just... did." Matt wandered to the energy field. "Ok...well you did live here...the crew'll come looking if we're not back by sunset...at the worst we'll have to spend the night." he said finally.

"I'm not sure we should stay here," said Spyro, "there may be some old traps that could still go off." "Not to mention this place is probably has something nasty left inside it," said Cynder. "Well...unless there's a back door we're not going anywhere...I pity the bug that messes with us anyhow." said Matt, adding "Anyway, I'm sure there's nothing left here...Gaul would have taken anything he could use as a weapon."

"Anyways," said Matt, "I've got an idea to get the jitters out of us. Let's have a little lunch. Where do you keep the food?" "Uh, we don't have 'fridgyators' here," said Cynder. "Not to mention, it's been years since anyone's been here," said Spyro. Matt sighed. "Too much to hope for...I've only got survival rations." he said, taking his backpack off and pulling out several foil packets. He tore one open and pulled out a purple cracker, taking a bite before making a gagging noise. "Urgh...worse then the cooking back home...but its all we have." he said before taking out a bottle of purplish liquid. The note exclaimed it as a present from someone named Mark.

"I have to warn you, this stuff packs a punch," said Matt. The bottle also came with a detachable shotglass so Matt can drink them in mercifully small doses. He poured some of the contents into it and offered it to Spyro. "Don't try to sniff it." he warned before downing his shot and making a face. "Ngh...thats strong." he said in a rasping voice.

Spyro quickly downed his and a few seconds later, purple smoke started coming out of every cranial orifice except his eye sockets. Those just leaked tears. Cynder said alarmed "Whats in that stuff?" Matt shrugged. "Not a clue...but Mark told me only draconics can drink it. I tried some once on my first mission...probably the first time a human breathed fire..." he said.

"You're sure it's safe?" wheezed Spyro. "Oh sure," said Matt, "It did cause a tiny bit of brain damage on me the first time, but I've improved since then." Spyro and Cynder exchanged glances. "I wasn't half dragon at the time...you'll be fine." said Matt. Cynder shrugged and then swallowed a shot herself. She seemed fine at first until she let out a loud and extremely-unladylike belch. Said belch caused a lot of smoke and soot to exit her mouth and fill the room. Matt's voice from the cloud said "Ok...I'm going to put the Kr'ta away now..." in a bored voice.

Eventually, the smoke cloud cleared. Then Matt said, "Well, one tradition back where I come from when there's a campout is to tell stories around the campfire." Spyro and Cynder looked at each other. "What campfire?" said Spyro. Matt glared and blasted a pile of old wood debris with a plasma blast. "There...campfire." he said annoyed.

Matt sighed then smirked. "You know...this place does bring to mind a little...misadventure I had shortly after I got home...was in a place similar to this...VERY similar." he said. "Might as well tell it," said Spyro as both he and Cynder sat down, "Nothing much else to do here." "Well...it all began in the Badlands sector...now the NSC loves it when a ancient facility is found...they like to colonize them. We were sent to investigate why a new colony dropped out of contact." said Matt, sitting so the fire highlighted his face in the creepiest way possible.

"What happened there?" asked Cynder. "Well...we got there and found that three other mercenary teams had arrived before us...but there was nobody in the facility...it was like everyone just...vanished...meals left still warm...info-net terminals still on...but no sign of anyone...anywhere." said Matt, talking in the creepiest voice he could manage.

Spyro and Cynder were starting to be affected by Matt's storytelling. They both looked creeped out, but they were hung onto his every word. "Well...we weren't gonna stick around...not after Sy-Yong...but we had to do a basic sweep of at least the admin centre. Me and Chloe walked in there and we found one of the missing mercs, gibbering like a moron...going on about the fear." Matt said. "He called us figments and ran into a room. We followed in...and we found..." he said. Spyro and Cynder leaned in. "What was in there?" asked Spyro. "A ROOM FULL OF SKELETONS!" shouted Matt, jumping upwards. Spyro and Cynder screamed in fright and tumbled over backwards.

Matt laughed his head off as the two dragons got up, looking annoyed. "Ah...hah...you should see your faces." he said. "That story wasn't real, was it?" said Spyro, his voice full of annoyance. "Nope," said Matt, "That's what we call a ghost story. It's meant to scare unsuspecting suckers like you." Cynder exchanged a glance with Spyro and she said, "We have our own way of causing chills." Suddenly she blew at him with Wind while Spyro blew with Ice.

Matt was frozen stiff in a layer of thick, almost snow-like frost. "Ok..." he said faintly "...your ways better....I hurt..." he said and fell sideways.

--

After Matt thawed off, the group decided to go to sleep. The two dragons dozed off easily enough, but Matt was having trouble falling asleep. He couldn't help but shake the feeling he was being watched. He sat up and pulled out some of the water to take a drink when he heard some movement. He picked up his pulse rifle and shone its light at the noise to see Cynder walking along with a zoned out expression on her face. "Hey, Cynder...can't sleep either...Cynder?" he said, worried when he got no response.

Cynder didn't respond to Matt's question. "Cynder? Cynder?" Matt called. He waved his hand in front of her face. No response then either. Then he noticed the dazed look in her half-closed eyes. "Ah, sleepwalking I see," said Matt, "Now are you supposed to wake people up from this or not? I can't remember."

He decided to follow her. The dragoness's path took her down a corridor and into a room that had white light shining out. Matt followed her in...and had a minor heart attack. The room was definitely not empty. t least a dozen ape guards in full armour and to Matt's horror, Gaul were present. He managed to stop himself from shooting the place up when he remembered that Gaul was dead. This did not make him feel better...if Gaul and the apes were dead...why were they here? He also noticed that the room was a lot newer then the rest of the fortress.

"Ah, Mistress Cynder," said 'Gaul', "You are almost finished with your training. You just need to prove your physical prowess before we proceed to the final part." Matt watched as Cynder, still in whatever trance she was in, said cockily "Fine...try and make it a challenge this time." "Ok, this is weird," said Matt, "When people dream, other people aren't supposed to dream with them. Ooh, maybe I'm just astral projecting and entered Cynder's dream. Then that means I should be able to walk through walls."

Matt decided to try this by walking into a wall. The agony as he nearly broke his nose quickly disproved the astral projection theory. "Thats it...that leaves ghosts...fine..." he said and ran out, yelling "SPYRO...SPYRO...UNDEAD ALERT!"

Spyro jumped up with a start, completely confused about what happened. "Huh? What? Where's the fire?" "Ghosts...real ghosts...in one of the rooms...Gaul ghost...with cynder." gibbered Matt, practically dragging Spyro along. As they reached the room, Matt pushed Spyro round the corner and said "Do you see?" Spyro said "See what?" Matt glared and came round "That...where'd they go?" he said seeing that the room was now a half ruined shadow of what he'd seen earlier though Cynder was still there, looking a bit confused.

Spyro gave Matt an odd look and said, "Maybe that drink you had affected your dreams. Cynder probably went somewhere to relieve herself." Matt looked at Cynder. "Tell me you saw the ghosts...you were there...talking to the 'Gaul' one." he said in a increasingly hysterical voice. "I'm not crazy." he added despite the visual evidence to the contrary.

"Uh, maybe you should get some more sleep," said Spyro, "You kinda had a long day." Matt glared at the room like it had personally offended him before saying "Fine...you sure you saw nothing, Cynder?" "I don't know what you're talking about," said Cynder, "All I remeber is falling asleep and then I woke up here." Matt sighed. "Maybe you're right..." he said unsure. However he made a note to sleep lightly.

--

Matt was able to sleep later, but he had rather fitful dreams comprised of monkey skeletons chasing him through dark tunnels. He apparently woke up with a start and said, "That does it. No more NSC rations before sleep." Matt heard a clunk and turned to see a translucent version of Seleni standing there, though the faint lines of binary code betrayed her as a simple hologram. It didn't stop him from drawing his weapon though. "Who the hell are you?" he said.

"Just a program," said 'Seleni', "A program with a warning. Stay out of the way of Cynder's programming and you won't be hurt." "Oh, and how do you plan to do that?" said Matt, "You're just a hologram. Look, I can go right through you." To prove this, he poked his finger through her 'skin' in several parts, especially in her torso.

The Holo-Seleni smirked...and roundhouse kicked Matt to the floor before saying. "You're dreaming...if you interfere the next time you sleep you will find out exactly what happens when a person dies in his dream." she said.

--

Matt woke up with a start to see Cynder missing again. "Spyro..." he said urgently, the programs warning all too real in his mind. "What is it now?" said Spyro, yawning. "Cynder's gone again, and I know she's not going to the bathroom. She's being reprogrammed," said Matt. Spyro looked a little sceptic. "Is this another of your stories?"

Matt grabbed Spyro by the shoulders and shook him back and forth. "I am not making this up! A holographic dragon chick just came into my dreams and told be to back off before kicking me in a way that actually hurt!" Spyro looked a bit dizzy from the shaking but Matt said, "Ok, what kind of programming for Cynder would be required for Gaul to be there?"

Spyro went pale. "Oh no...we've got to find her." he said, shaking himself loose. "What...whats in the programming?" yelled Matt, following. "If I had to guess," said Spyro as he started running up the corridor, "It's probably the one that made her big and bad before." "You mean like when Devina took her over?" said Matt, remembering the occasion when the dragon general, Devina had possessed Cynder for a few hours. "Crud...we'd better hurry." said Matt, stepping up the pace.

--

The machine followed Spyro and Matt's progress with concern. It had predicted that unless action was taken there was a 55% chance they would abort the program. It quickly decided on a course of action and began making changes to the programs code...

--

Matt pointed ahead to a white light coming from a side room. "In there...I'm sure of it." he said, running in with Spyro to see Cynder in her trance state being adressed by the fake Gaul. The guards lining the room paid no attention and for that Matt was glad. If they suddenly detected him and Spyro they were in the perfect place to grab them

Suddenly a shimmer went through the air. "Uh, Matt, what was that?" asked Spyro. "Relax," said Matt, "They're just holograms. They can't touch us." Gaul suddenly turned with a look of shock. "Who the hell are you two? GUARDS!" he yelled.

"Uh, scratch that last statement," said Matt as he readied a plasma orb in his hand. The duo didn't even have time to move before the guards had surrounded them. "Well...the master will want witnesses to this anyway. Cynder...it is time." he said, walking over to a chest and removing a dark crystal practically crackling with power. Even in her trance, Cynder looked at it nervously.

"Cynder, don't do it!" shouted Spyro, "If he uses that on you, you'll become a monster!" Cynder looked at Spyro in confusion. "Gaul...I don't know..." she began, backing up a bit. "Who are you going to believe?" said Gaul, "The person you've known your whole life or some oddly-colored hatching?" Matt glared. "Gauls playing you like a violin." he said glaring at the fake Gaul.

"Wait a minute," said Cynder, "He's right. This is all wrong." Gaul apparently didn't want to waste any more time and just shoved the crystal into Cynder's forehead. Matt had to grab Spyro as Cynder began screaming, dark crystal energy crackling all over her body. It was clear such a change was painful in unimaginable ways.

"Spyro, I'm not sure whether this is real or not," said Matt, "But if Sparx's remarks about Evil Cynder were half as right, we should get out of her sight." Cynder was starting to glow, just her shape visible behind the energy...a shape that started to grow, her screams getting deeper, more like roars. The Gaul hologram shimmered into the machines default form, the Seleni clone. "I warned you not to be involved, Shar-Khan...I gave you a chance to leave...now you die with the other." she said. "Told you there was a creepy dragon lady." said Matt nervously as the clone turned into Malefor just as Cynders change finished. "Kill them both." it said in a perfect imitation.

"Ok, now we start running," said Matt as he picked up Spyro and ran in the opposite direction. "Dammit...you gotta lay off the sheep." panted Matt, as they ran out the room...just in time as a blast of shadow fire just missed them. "Oh man, I wish these tunnels were big enough to fly in," said Spyro.

There was a crash as the now corrupted Cynder literally shouldered the doorframe aside with ease before giving chase. "We gotta lose her or fight her." said Matt as they briefly managed to get away from her. It was only a matter of time before she found them again. The lightning shield was still up, preventing escape.

"Uh, I could barely beat her the last time we fought," said Spyro, "I don't have Convexity Breath to remove her dark influences." "Well, I think you need to try!" shouted Matt. "Well, can't you try?" asked Spyro, "This is a lot like that story you told us." "Actually, I based it off a file I read," said Matt, "The story's true, it's just that I wasn't really in it."

"Then how did the real ones escape?" said Spyro, a bit angrily. "They didn't escape...but their final transmission said they were going to try and destroy the machines CPU...of course...no wonder it chose Seleni as a hologram...that little worm made them." Matt said. "Wait, you say that a computer's creating all this?" asked Spyro. "Pretty much," said Matt, "Though I bet most of this is just a load of extremely convincing illusions."

A blast of shadow fire removed the wall above their heads. "Found you." snarled Dark Cynder. "BUT THATS NOT ONE OF THEM..." gibbered Matt. Spyro and Matt quickly started running away from Cynder, dodging shadow fire blasts as they ran. "So, any suggestions of how we break this illusion?" asked Spyro.

"I'm the best at demolitions...I have trouble NOT breaking computers...you try and reason with her...it was just a imitation of the ritual...I doubt the machine did as good a job brainwashing." said Matt. He didn't say he was sure that Seleni had booby trapped the machines CPU unit.

"I might try that," said Spyro, "But I'd prefer it in a place where she wasn't blasting at us. Don't think she'll be able to hear me over her roars." "Where did you fight her last?" said Matt. "Well, technically our last fight was at Convexity," said Spyro, "But I think the rooftop is a more likely place." "Then go for it...I'll meet up later." he said, adding mentally. "I hope."

Matt and Spyro started heading upwards as much as they can. Of course, since the lifts were not operational, they had to do a fair amount of flying. Matt was looing at his wrist computer every chance he had. Finally he looked pleased when it chimed. "Ok. I've got where it is...oh....its in the basement." he said, looking back down all they way they'd come. "On the bright side...Cynder hasn't found us yet."

A loud roar shook the air. Matt looked annoyed with himself. "When am I ever going to learn?" he said. The two looked down to see Cynder flying up the shaft after them. "Great..." said Matt sarcastically. "Don't take this as desertion...but good luck." said Matt before jumping back off the side, surprising Cynder momentarily, making her roll to avoid Matt who transformed as he went past. Her full lethal attention however was on Spyro.

"Oh boy," said Spyro to himself as Cynder flew up to his level, "I hope Matt knows what he's doing. Better yet, I hope I know what I'm doing."

--

Matt managed to come to an undignified landing at the bottom of the towers lift shaft. He turned back and looked back up to see several flashes of light. "Good luck." he muttered before checking his scanner. He still needed to go down another level to find the CPU.

"Oh, it shouldn't seem that hard," said Matt as he started looking for the stairs. Suddenly, a familiar voice called out hauntingly, "Maaaaatt..." Matt rolled his eyes and said, "Oh please, like I'd really be spooked by ghosts." Matt turned to see the machines default Seleni hologram. "Whats the point of you?" he said before turning back to his search.

"You will not succeed," said Holo-Seleni. "Yeah sure," said Matt, "I'm not dreaming right now so you're hardly in a position to enforce your wishes." The fake seleni walked along beside him as he searched. "You won't win...my systems are the finest my maker ever designed...nobody has broken my programming..." it boasted

"First time for everything," said Matt, "Besides, if hacking won't work, I could just smash it." "That will not work either...firstly this hologram is hard light and capable of harming you easily...secondly my CPU core is shielded against any real threat you may present." laughed the A.I.

"Well, I doubt it's ever dealt with the likes of me," said Matt. The fake-seleni smirked. "Oh...I almost hope you succeed...after all...I don't need to be active to keep that spell in place..." "Whatever, it's only a mind trick," said Matt, "Spyro will be able to snap her out of it, no problem."

"Don't be so sure..." said the fake-seleni. "I could alter the program again to make sure she leaves you in peace...this is not your problem." she said. Matt glared and actually tried to blast the hologram at this point, only for it to shoot harmlessly through and blow a piece of wall away.

"As you can see, attacking me does little good," said Seleni. "That's what you think," said Matt as he ran towards the hole he created. Seleni turned around to see that said hole led to the stairwell. "My defence system will not allow you to harm my CPU...do not make me destroy you...my programming was clear to avoid confrontations with Shar-Khan that can still be turned." Said the hologram. "Oh yeah, well, bite my solid fleshy ass," said Matt as he started down the stairwell. The hologram glared as Matt ran down the stairs two at a time. "Damn, I hope Spyro's doing as well." he muttered.

--

Meanwhile, Spyro was dodging that blasts Dark Cynder was sending at him. Admittedly, this was slightly easier than when he first took her on, but still not fun to do. Dark cynder snarled and whipped her tail blade in Spyro's direction, neatly slicing a pillar through the middle. "Grr...stay still." she growled before spitting another blast of shadow fire at Spyro, blasting apart the doors to the rooftop that she and Spyro had last faced each other before their trip to Convexity. There was a clear difference between the roof then and the current roof however. Somebody had removed the portal.

"Listen, Cynder," said Spyro, "You don't have to listen to Gaul or Malefor. They're not real. The only reason you're acting this way is because you think you've been cursed. But you're not. It's all in your head!" "LIES!" roared Cynder sending a blast of energy at Spyro.

"Really, Cynder, they're both illusions," said Spyro, dodging the blast just in time "Haven't you noticed how much this place has changed? Don't you remember anything from before?" "Does it matter?" said Dark Cynder, "This place shall serve as your tomb."

"Cynder, please, you have to remember," said Spyro, "Don't you remember me saving you at Convexity, you saving me at the Well of Souls, the chain that bound us together?" Cynder roared and leapt at Spyro, pinning him.

"Cynder, I don't want to hurt you, and deep down, you don't want to hurt me either," said Spyro, "I know you've said it to me before, but I haven't said to you yet. I love you, Cynder." Cynder, who had been about to use her tail blade to stab spyro, stopped, a confused look on her face.

"That's it Cynder," said Spyro, "The machine may trick you about your memories, but it can't trick you about your emotions." Cynder backed up, holding her head in her paws at Spyro's words, wincing. She managed to say one word "Sp-Spyro?" "Cynder, you remember!" cried Spyro.

"Yes, I can," said Cynder, "It's all coming back to me now." Suddenly her face was filled with horror, "What am I doing?" Spyro looked up at her. "It wasn't you...it was whatever we set off coming here...Matt's downstairs destroying it." He said. "Then let's go help him," said Cynder as she extended her wings to glide.

--

Back with matt, he was starting to lose patience with the Seleni hologram. "For the thousandth time attack me or shut up." he said, throwing a rock at the hologram more for stress relief than for any effect it may have had.

"Oh, it shouldn't be me you should be worried about," said Seleni, "and by the way, watch where you're going." "What are you talking abou...EEP!" he said as he tripped over a energy wire across the floor and face first into the floor.

Suddenly Matt saw that he was heading for several small, but pointy, spikes that had just come out of the floor. "Oh, this won't feel good," he said. The Holo-Seleni actually winced as there was a noise best spelled as 'spoik' as Matt landed on the spikes.

"YEOW!" yelped Matt as he felt like he just been whacked with a porcupine. He got up slowly. There was a couple of spikes stuck in him, but he wasn't hurt that much. "Kinda low grade trap, if you ask me," said Matt as pulled out a spike, wincing as he did. "Acheon Taleth and my maker spent a few months here. My maker designed that to stop Malefors minions from intruding...and killing the roaches." said the Holo-Seleni and glared as Matt walked on, laughing at her explanation.

"Uh-huh, but it's gonna take more than that to stop-" Suddenly a tile he stepped on sunk into the floor. "...me?" he squeaked. The machine was impressed by the way Matt avoided the dragonbane darts that were fired though sadly the last volley did almost pin him to the wall, leaving a impresive silluette of darts in the wall. "Anything else?" said Matt smugly and was almost given terminal sunburn as a hidden flamethrower went off an inch from his face. The Holo-Seleni glared. "Dammit...just die already."

"If I had a credit for every time an enemy said that..." said Matt wistfully. He was cautious of where he stepped now, but he was so busy looking down, he didn't notice the sensor laser that his head just crossed. The machine, watching through the hologram smirked as the hidden plasma mine exploded. "Well...thats that...such a waste of a potential Shar-Virk...no...nonono." it said as the smoke cleared to see a slightly surprised Matt, a glowing energy field round him, walk forward out of the smoke as if nothing had happened and into his CPU room.

Matt walked saw the CPU clearly enough. It wasn't made of Ancient crystal, but it was a fairly sophisticated machine, taking the form of a column of various computerized systems with cables running over it. "Now let's see," said Matt, "Where's the plug I can pull and then slice to bits?"

A lightning field suddenly sprung up as Matt approached it. "I told you...my main CPU is invulnerable to any attack in your abilities." "Wait," said the computer, "Consider this before your next action execution. You desire the one known as Kala to be your mate, correct? Spare me, and I'll see to it that she is freed from Avarona." Matt glared at the machine and said, "I care about Kala for more than just sex. But what would you know about love? You're Seleni's heartless creation."

The CPU behind him made a humming noise and the hologram's eyes narrowed. "You really would rather die...fine...I will comply." it said, pulling out its ion staff and lunging at the shocked Matt. Matt quickly dodged aside and said, "Whoa, I'm guessing that lightsaber of yours works just as well as a hologram's would." "Of course...Ion staff blades are just light...now die." said the hologram, lunging at Matt again, who pulled out his own ion blade and barely blocked it.

"Still, you're just light, not just the ion blade," said Matt between parries, "and light has weaknesses." The hologram smirked and actually lowered her blade, allowing Matt to land what would have normally been a decapitating blow. It passed harmlessly through. "Then again, it has its advantages," said Matt, "But I bet you can't be solid and insubstantial at the same time."

That idea was ended when Seleni grabbed his arm, which was still inside the hologram and forced it back so he elbowed himself in the face. Matt staggered up and ran so the energy field was between him and Seleni. "Face it Matt, there's no way to kill me," said Seleni. She calmly walked through the energy field towards. Matt. But then her ion blade caught part of a power cable and staggered a bit, her form shimmering as if disturbed.

Matt got an idea and started shooting like he was desperate as the hologram advanced on him. "Finally lost your nerve?" asked Seleni as the blasts went harmlessly through her. "You know what, I'll let you have a shot at me," said Seleni as she went solid. Matt didn't shoot but instead grabbed her arm and forced her ion blade out her grasp. "This isn't real." he said and threw it javelin style into the centre of the CPU unit.

"NOOOO!!!" cried Seleni as the ion blade went into the computer like a harpoon through a giant mushroom. The lights on the computer began to flicker and then die one by one. The hologram fell to her knees. "You....you...vandal...nev-ev-er minnnnd...you will die here too." she said, her speech stuttering. A series of distant explosions were heard.

"Uh, what was that?" asked Matt. "The de-de-destruction of the ooooonly way-way-way out," said the flickering Seleni, "By the way, be-be-being made of li-i-i-ight has one m-m-m-more advantage. I d-d-d-d-don't n-n-n-need to br-br-breeeeeathe."

Matt went pale as these words hit home. With the stairway blocked by probably 20 tons of rock, the air he was beathing was limited...extremely limited. "En-joy-joy-joy your last few minutes of air..." said the hologram before flickering into nothing. Matt sighed and walked back to the stairwell, not talking to save air. The hologram was right, a huge pile of rubble blocked the stairs, a few fires lit by the explosives that had done the job still burning.

"Well, better put those things out," said Matt, "I've got little enough oxygen here as it is." Matt was about to pat the first flame out when he heard a rumble from the other side and a few of the smaller rocks fell down. The rumble began to get louder as Matt backed up.

Just then, the rocks were scatter as a blast of dark flame blew them apart. When the smoke and dust cleared, the passageway was also cleared and Spyro and Cynder still in her adult form were standing there. Cynder sighed with exhaustion and shrunk to her normal form. Matt waved the dust aside, coughing. "Well...nice to see everything went ok for you too" he said, hacking up some more dust. "The machines so much scrap metal" he said.

Then Matt noticed Cynder. "Ah, finally got her thinking straight, I see," said Matt. Cynder nodded sadly. "Matt, I am sorry about-" started Cynder. "Ah, forget it." said Matt, "Everyone's got a little psycho in them, even me." Cynder and Spyro looked confused as Matt continued. "His names Draconus...and..." he stopped, looked angry and suddenly yelled "NO, I WON'T SAY THAT TO HER...SHE'S SPOKEN FOR!!!" obviously speaking to the aformentioned Draconus.

"Uh, when you said 'inner psycho', are you sure you're not confusing that with your 'outer psycho'?" asked Cynder. Matt glared. "No...Draconus once tried to kill everyone I know for the hell of it." he said before adding "Lets just get out of here...we still need to get past those Grublins."

"Ok, just let me switch off the lightning shield," said Cynder. Matt looked over. "Hey...why didn't you do that earlier? We coulda avoided this horror movie rip off situation." "I only just now remembered," said Cynder, "In fact, I remember everything about this place now." "Good..." said Matt as the door, minus its shield came into view and Matt remembered why it had been turned on in the first place. "Erm...are there any other tricks?" he said as two Grublins came into view. "Here we go again." said Spyro and the three got ready to fight...and jumped as a hail of pulse rounds ripped the grublins to pieces. Wilson and Chloe came round the corner. "There you are...we've been looking for a way in all night." said Chloe.

"Heck, we've been looking for a way out," said Matt. "So...is there a reason for why shuttle 2 is currently scattered across the landscape?" said Chloe accusingly. "Uh, there was a really bad storm," said Matt, "and Devina attacked us. Kinda hard to fly in those conditions." Chloe sighed. "The shuttles scrap but the main ships this way." she said walking off down a side canyon with Wilson, leaving the three alone. "Well...thank you for the tour of your old hideout...it was quite enlightening." said Matt jokingly.

"Yeah, about that," said Cynder, "You know that offer you made about blowing it up?" "Sure do," said Matt. "Can I still take you up on that?" "Of course." said Matt, taking a serious tone. "You're not still bothered by that place, are you?" asked Spyro. "Not completely," said Cynder, "But I don't think we should allow Anton to get his hands on that machine, even if it is beyond repair."

"Yeah...I'll feel better once its at the bottom of 300 tonnes of rubble." said Matt before walking off to make the arrangements. "Uh, Spyro?" said Cynder. "Yes, Cynder?" responded Spyro. "What you said back on the rooftop, did you truly mean it?" Spyro smiled and said "Of course I did." he said and nuzzled Cynder affectionally. "Well, I really feel that way about you too," said Cynder, twining her neck around Spyro's.

--

The crew all stood on the bridge of the NightHawk, hovering a safe distance from the now rigged tower. "Stand by...detonating in 3...2...1." said a marine at the controls. There was a distant boom which was quickly followed by an even bigger boom as several explosions burst out of the tower. "Kinda like Guy Fawkes' Day," said Chloe. "Good riddance." said Matt as the tower began to collapse on itself. He looked over at Spyro and Cynder. "That good?" he asked. "Plenty," said Cynder.

**--**

Meanwhile, Malefor was less than pleased with the outcome of Devina's plan. "You failed miserably," he growled, "Not only as that machine failed to enslave Cynder, but the entire fortress has been destroyed as well." "It wasn't my fault...if that Shar-Virk had pulled his weight instead of investigating his 'hunch' I could have stopped them." said Devina angrily. Several burns and wounds were testament to the weapons that the NightHawk had used to chase her off.

"I had very good reason for investigating," said Anton, "and unlike your plan, it has borne fruit." Devina hissed angrily but failed to make Anton even flinch. "There were more survivors. I managed to find out where a few of them went...surely you wondered why, after the temple raid, that dragons stayed around...hmm?" he said.

"Of course, they were trying to protect the dragon eggs," said Malefor, "Of course, they've all been smashed long ago, save Spyro and Cynder's." "Wrong...listen to this...a distress call...at the moment its low strength. My ship barely detected it...but...well, take a listen." said Anton, pulling out a crystal and inserting it in his wrist computer. A voice issued from it. "This is Captain Ardanos of the 21st recon infantry to all NSC forces. We have managed to secure a safe regroup point thanks to several locals. The locals appear to be draconic in nature and the location appears to be some form of...hatchery. Coordinates are as follows. I repeat, all NSC forces regroup at the following..."

Malefor looked interested. "So, there were survivors after all, from both assaults," he said, "This should be worth investigating." "I know what load out Recon teams have...I will happily take care of it...I assume you want nothing left..." said Anton. However, the generals did not share Malefor's pleased look. "Little half-breed upstart," muttered Shard, "Just look him suck up to Malefor. It's disgusting." Avarona nodded and said, "I'd rather listen to Raptor's inane praising."

Raptor looked confused. "What inane praising?" he said. Avarona shook her head in sympathy and spoke to Malefor, "Sir, you should let us go with him. He does not know this land like we do." Malefor looked thoughtful. "You are right...Anton...my generals and I will accompany you...I know full well exactly how strong a Shar-Virks promise is...they will make sure you don't get any ideas about leaving." he said.

Anton looked disgruntled, but was careful to make sure it didn't show in his voice. "You have nothing to worry about, Lord Malefor," he said.

**Oh no…Malefor has found the avalarians secret hatchery…and the rest of the NSC survivors…this may not end well…please leave a review.**


	6. Darkness Disturbed

**Spyro, Cynder, and all other Spyro related characters are property of Sierra studios. **

**Draco, Contrinus, Chip and Cydra are property of my co-author, Cydra. **

**Matt, his merc team, the NSC and related tech, the ancients/atlanteans and malefors dragon generals are mine.**

**The ember and cynder arguing over Spyro mini-war was inspired by a comic that ShaloneSK on DA drew….go see it…it be funny**

**CPS Chronicles: Forgotten Blood**

**Chapter 5: Darkness Disturbed**

**Avalar**

**Unknown location**

"Captain Ardanos...personal log. Its been a week now since those...things overran Banshee base...since we had to flee the Yorktown in dropships. Intel really dropped the ball on this one." He glanced at the room around him and said, "I've certainly been in better situations than this before. And far better quarters, believe me."

This was probably just stress of the moment. Yes, the quarters were more...rustic then he was used too, spending most of his spare time aboard cruisers going to the next operation but it was comfortable. The window opened out to show a cluster of huts and other buildings in a box canyon. Several dozen caves were in the far canyon wall and the...locals could be seen going about their business.

The only thing really out of place was the 100 or so men and women that was all that remained of Ardanos's 1000 strong battalion and the two assault jeeps and the four cougar dropships. "Still...could have been worse." he said into his log. Admittedly it could have been worse...when the dropships had finally reached the planet they'd flown right into the claws of a droid fighter patrol. If the locals hadn't seen the flashes...well...he didn't like to think.

The locals, in particular, where extremely unusual to him. They were all dragons, just like the ones he heard in fairy tales. Only in shape and power of course. They were far more kind than the ravaging monsters told of in legend. Despite this, most of his men were a bit jittery at the moment. Only the real hope that there had been other survivors apart from them had stopped them deciding to do whatever the hell they wanted. He'd had Lieutenant Lao broadcasting a message he'd recorded on every possible frequency he could think of. So far nobody had picked up. Maybe nobody was had survived? Movement at the door got his attention.

It was a Dragon Elder, an Ice dragon by the name of Palor. "Pardon me if I'm interrupting anything," said Palor, "But have you made any progress with contacting your government? Your weapons are making the other dragons nervous." "Not a chance...all the long range comm equipment went up with their ships...I saw a mercenary ship at the base the day before all hell broke loose...anyway, shouldn't you warn YOUR government about that thing that came out the volcano?" said Ardanos, as politely as he could.

"That 'thing' isn't as easy to deal with as you think," said Palor, "The Dark Master has a great control over magic and has only been narrowly been defeated before. I doubt you possess a scientific weapon that's capable of bringing him down." "If that defence grid hadn't reactivated we'd have laminated his butt to the bedrock..." said Ardanos angrily. "Damn...too many of my men are dead up there." he said, looking up at the ceiling and the sky beyond for a moment.

"Our kind has known losses too," said Palor, "And I'd rather not have more corpses littering Avalar, no matter what species they are." Ardanos sighed. "I understand why you don't want military personnel in your town...but we've nowhere else to go...at least nobody knows we're here...our channels are quite secure..."

Suddenly a soldier ran in and said, "Sir, there's a T-3 sitting at the entrance to the box canyon. I don't think it's going anywhere and I don't think it's going to allow us to leave." Ardanos stood up so fast his chair fell backwards. He and Palor ran outside to see the huge tripod T-3 droid standing at the entrance. A cloud of droid fighters and strange creatures flew above it and dozens of droids and several A.A.T tanks were slowly heading for the town. But the real shock was sitting on the ridge. The same creature that had been responsible for all the death at Banshee base was sitting with four other dragons like a king watching his troops march into battle. "That smug son of a...sergeant...get the men together...Eldar Palor...do you and your people have a back way out?"

Palor nodded uncertainly. "There's a series of caves that could lead us out. But they're a very trick maze. One could easily get lost forever. We only use them in an emergency." "Well, I think this qualifies as an emergency," said Ardanos. Ardanos sighed. "Just get into those caves...I doubt those droids are sett discriminate between us and you but I think we should be able to handle quite a few of them..." he said, not noticing Palors expression as he caught on as to Ardanos's plan.

"Are you certain that is necessary?" asked Palor. "Positive," said Ardanos, "droids don't have the same kind of brains as you or me. They'll be able to find their way through the maze. Someone has to keep their attention so they won't be able to follow the others." Palor nodded and said, "In that case, you can count on me. I just need to find my colleuge and we'll be ready." Meanwhile, another soldier was busy trying to get a distress call out, hoping someone would be able to find them. "This is 21st recon division issuing a general distress call on revolving frequencies..."

--

It was the same nightmare again for Matt. The same sea of flashes and screams as his fighter mates burned in their ships in a hail of combine laser fire, knowing that it was all his fault didn't help either. It didn't matter that the council had said it had been unavoidable...he knew.

Suddenly, he felt his ship jerk as it was being drawn in by a tractor beam. Matt waited for the 'clank' of the ship becoming trapped, but instead heard a 'bzzzz-bzzzz-bzzzz!' He opened his eyes to see the gun-metal grey of his quarters ceiling. The computer on the bedside desk was beeping with a message from Chip, who as a cyborg usually got nightwatch duties. "This better be good." he muttered, into the comm.

"We just picked up a distress signal," said Chip, "and I'm pretty sure this one isn't fake." "Yeah? I do still remember that wonderful wild goose chase that Mantichrome sent us in New York...what makes it stand out?" said Matt, to tired to be in the mood to see the other person point of view.

"Cause this one has a voice, which I've checked to see if it's human or not," said Chip, "Listen to this." Matt listened as a crackling voice came over the comm. "...is Sergeant Dietrich of the 21st recon battalion. We are under heavy attack by empire military led by the hostile that destroyed Banshee base...All NSC forces please respond...we're getting killed out here. Coordinates are attached to this signal on secure frequency alpha 9."

"That definitely sounds real," said Matt, "Have you located the spot the coordinates are pointing to?" Chip nodded. "Some kind of dragon towns there. I got a good look when one of the defence grid satellites went over it. Its in the mountains to the north." he said. Matt looked at the image "Didn't the eldars say that there's a hatchery around there?...no...not even Malefor would..." he said, horror creeping into his voice as he realised.

"I think Malefor fits into a category of villainy which is beyond what one may call 'usual evil'," said Chip, "Not to mention he's undead and I've yet to meet a decent person who's undead." "Point taken...get everyone awake...the sooner we get there, the more people will still have pulses." said Matt.

--

The battle in the box canyon was grossly one sided. The T-3 strode through, blasting targets to bits and crushing things underneath its three feet. The dragon generals bombarding the people below didn't make it any easier.

The only good point was the T-3 seemed only intent of stopping the human dropships and dragons taking to the air. The grunt work was being done by the smaller droids, backed up by the strange creatures that had overran Banshee base...grublins according to the dragons. The main street into the town wa sa mess, pockmarked by craters caused by explosions and occupied by the burning remains of a A.A.T that one of the older dragons had blasted. Despite the heavy resistance, the droids and Grublins were slowly forcing the NSC troopers back. Ardanos had split his men into small groups to force the attackers to spread themselves thin.

One such group was led by Lieutenant Lao who had been sent out an out of the way side street after several young dragons who stayed there hadn't reached the catacombs yet. Lao had actually come from a world where dragons not only existed but were revered and was silently fuming at how the droids were doing building to building cleanouts.

He peered out to see four super battle droids march down the street, led by a grublin, kicking in closed doors, showering the rooms within with laser fire before moving on. "Despicable," he muttered, "Whoever in charge of them cares for no one but themselves. Who else would stoop to slaughtering innocents?"

"Hell...their boss, maybe?" said a private next to him. Lao glared at him before hearing a growl from the Grublin. They'd been spotted. "FIRE AT WILL." he yelled, opening up with his assault rifle. Lao and the private quickly ducked down to avoid being hit. As the barrage fired at them, Lao noticed a teenage dragon in the alley across from theirs, a red male. "We need to get that kid," said Lao.

He pointed at two of the marines. "You and you...with me...GO NOW!" With that, Lao and the twpo other marines sprinted across the street towards the other alley...and not a moment too soon as one of the Super battle droids fired one of its rockets into their previous hiding place, eradicating the remaining marines. "Dammit..." said Lao before pointing to one of the marines. "Tell Ardanos we need backup." he said before going over to the teenage dragon who already sported a laser burn in the shoulder from an earlier escape and was barely conscious from pain. "Hello...stay awake now please...what is your name?" said Lao, trying to keep the young dragon awake to stop him falling deeper into shock.

"Fl-Flame..." said the young dragon. "Just call me Lao," said Lao, "We're gonna get you out of here. Are there any others that you know of?" "Another one...Ember…she's...in one of the...huts." said Flame weakly as Lao pulled out a med-kit and began calibrating a shot of medical nanites. "Hurry it up, sir...its getting...urk." said one of the marines before being shot in the head by a droid who ran into the alley and took aim at Lao.

Flame glared at the robot and opened his mouth. A large amount of fire spewed out and quick-roasted the machine. However, the strain of producing that powerful a blast was too much for Flame's tired body and he passed out. Lao looked between the rapidly melting droid and Flame. "Good lord." he managed. A gravelly hand whacked him across the back of his head and sent him sprawling. The grublin creature and two more droids had circled round and come up behind him.

"Heh, stupid soldier," said the grublin, "No human or dragon can escape us." "Then it's a good thing I don't fit in either category," said a voice. The droids started to turn when one of them was sliced in half by a black blade. Lao shrunk back in sheer terror as a creature he'd only seen in briefings materialized out the shadows and sliced the Grublins head off, the creature disintegrating into gems as it fell. "Oh crap." he muttered, trying to pull his sidearm out his holster.

"Whoa, whoa, easy there," said NegaMorph, "I'm on your guys' side now." The second drone was about to blast him but NegaMorph pointed his right arm backwards and fired some fangs into it. Lao wasn't too convinced. "How did you get here?" he said suspiciously before realizing that he could hear a ships engines overhead.

"I came with friends," said NegaMorph, "Friends with big guns." Lao glared at Negamorph. "Fine...help me get this dragon back to our command post...at least he'll be out of the firing line..." he began before noticing Flame stirring.

NegaMorph glanced at the ground to see the last bits of the gems going into Flame's body. "Huh, I've heard that dragons use gems to heal, but I've never actually seen it before." "Well...least this means I can save my medical nanites. Mr Flame...can you walk? I think we should leave as soon as possible." said Lao, peering round the corner for a second. He got a glimpse of the mercenary ship from the base circling over the droids outside the town, firing at them. Four new teenage dragons could also be seen attacking the dragons that had been with the 'Malefor' person.

"We better get Flame out of here," said Lao. "But what about-" began Flame before Lao said, "A good soldier never leaves someone behind." The group limped round the corner to see a AAT aiming at them. "Ah crap." said Negamorph and jumped as Spyro swooped past it, blasting its gun with his ice breath, making the shell explode inside the tank.

"You, uh, purple dragon," shouted Lao, "There's another dragon that needs to be rescued. She's in one of the huts." "His names Spyro..." muttered Negamorph. Lao looked confused before shrugging. "Whatever...I'll give proper introductions if I survive today." he said, annoyed.

Meanwhile, the dragons were busy fighting in midair. Spyro had been able to beat Raptor quickly so he was able to dive down to help NegaMorph. Chloe, however was fighting Shard who was flying rings around her. "Whats wrong? Are you holding back?" taunted Shard, even going so far as to use Draco's voice to do it.

"I don't suppose you'd know what Karma is, would you?" said Chloe as she started generating electricity in the back of her throat. Shard smirked annoyingly. "And why would you ask that?" he said and was blasted back into the canyon wall as Chloe spat the electricity she'd gathered. "Thats why." said Chloe sweetly.

--

Meanwhile, Cynder and Avarona were busy fighting each other. Avarona may had the advantage of size and experience, but Cynder's ability to use her Banshee shrieks to shatter Avarona's attacks gave them an equal balance of power. "Grr...why won't you just die like a good little hatchling?" snarled Avarona.

"The old are supposed to die first," said Cynder, "That's the balance of nature, not that you'd care anything about that." Avarona glared. "HOW DARE YOU?" she shrieked, sending a blast of sub-zero air at Cynder. In Avarona's fury, she forgot that Cynder had the power of wind, which she used to send the super-cold air right back at her.

The blast, while not being able to freeze her, was enough to knock her out of balance and allowed Cynder to use her paralytic poison to good effect. Avarona felt her limbs starting to weaken, so she started gliding down to the ground before her wings gave out on her. She just managed to land behind the defence of several dozen of Anton's droids before her wings gave out on her. "I'll remember this." she snarled under her breath at Cynder.

Meanwhile, Matt was going talon-to-talon with Devina. Their plasma and shadow fires clashed against each other in a rather spectacular fashion. Matt rolled around another of Devina's shadow fire and said "You know...doesn't this feel a bit like Déjà vu?" in an annoying tone of voice.

Devina's eyes narrowed and said, "Yes, this reminds me heavily of when you exorcised me from Cynder's body and left me trapped in Avalar's core. "Hey...your fault for being a jerk off." said Matt, smirking nastily. "Speaking of 'jerk offs'," said Devina, "Is it true about you and Avarona?"

Matt glared. "I'd say 'bite me' but you'd probably take me up on the offer." he retorted. "I have to say, I'm rather impressed," said Devina, deciding to see how much she can make Matt squirm with emotional discomfort, "Avarona's always been an ice queen, pun-intended, but the fact that you've been able to charm her is quite something. I bet old Striker gave you a few pointers." Matt growled angrily and spat a ball of plasma that nearly gave Devina a third nostril.

"Tsk, tsk," said Devina, "I can't imagine you using that kind of charm with Avarona." "I didn't do a thing with that slimy good for nothing smeghead." roared Matt before lunging at Devina in his rage, probably intent on ripping her to bloody ribbons.

Unfortunately, said rage clouded him from thinking that Devina might try something, which she did. She flew around Matt as he passed and latched onto his back. The two were sent tumbling down into the town below, landing with a thump that was hard enough to collapse a few damaged buildings. Devina wasted no time in dragging Matt round to face her eye to eye.

"Get off of me, you crazy-" shouted Matt before he noticed that Devina had a third red eye in the middle of her forehead. He'd seen enough fantasy films and dimensions to know what a third eye usually entailed and he tried his best to look away. "Look at me, hatchling." said Devina in a voice that echoed all wrong, the third eye pulsating with each word.

"And I thought you looked creepy before," muttered Matt as he twisted his neck away to avoid looking at Devina. Devina snarled angrily and gripped him tightly round the throat, forcing him back round to face her eyes. "I said, look at me, dragon." she said in the same echoing voice. A similar faint red glow began to show in Matt's own eyes, mirroring the Devina's third eye.

Matt felt Devina starting to probe around his mind, an extremely unpleasant sensation. Unfortunately, his body was locked in place so there was no way to physically resist her. But then Devina's probing stopped and she was completely thrown out of Matt's head.

The force didn't stop at kicking her out his head. The mental backlash was enough to throw her off him physically too. Matt got up woozily to see Devina lying across the small square they were in with crossed eyes, her third eye invisible again. "Ooh," said Matt, "remind me never to challenge you to a staring contest." "Yes, mother." burbled Devina before shaking her head to allow her brain cells to regroup.

As her mind recovered from the psychic backlash, she remembered feeling that type of resistance before. That was a very long time ago, a time she would have forgotten if she hadn't spent countless centuries brooding over it in her gem stone. She managed to get up and was about to take advantage of Matt's disorientation when a hail of rounds bounced around her as some of the humans came round the corner, shooting as they went.

"Another time," she hissed before disappearing into the shadows. Matt managed to finally get up properly, his head still spinning. "Did we win, sir?" he said, eyes spinning. "They are on the retreat," said the squad's leader, "But they'll probably be back." He looked at Matt and said, "Perhaps you should lie down." "Permission...granted." said Matt and passed out, face first.

--

Ember coughed loudly as the smoke in the air got thicker. Being a fire dragon, she wasn't bothered too much by the heat. However, she was not immune to smoke and was quickly running out of air to breathe. She and Flame had hidden when the first of the metal golems had swarmed into the town. She remembered looking up to see Palor attacking one of the flying golems before they'd been forced into a building. The last thing she remembered had been Flame heading out to find help when something had hit the building.

Unfortunately for her, she didn't have enough strength to let out a fire blast. Not that it would matter since she couldn't see where to blast it and burn a hole through the wall to escape. "Nobody's gonna find me here." coughed Ember to herself, sadly. Suddenly the only visible wall iced up and broke apart, letting in a blaze of sunlight...a dragons silluette showing against it.

"Is anyone in here?" asked a male voice. "Over here!" coughed Ember. "Don't worry, I'm gonna get you out of here." The dragon made his way over to Ember and started pulling her back towards the entrance he made. In a few seconds, they were both out of the burning building. "Are you alright?" asked the dragon. Ember looked to see a handsome purple dragon her age staring down at her wtih concern. To her, it seemed the sun was shining out of his body. "I am now," she said in a dreamy voice.

A human and Flame came round the corner. "Ember...are you ok? I got ambushed by those golems trying to get back." he said. "I got trapped in that hut," said Ember, "But I'm ok now, thanks to this heroic dragon." Flame and the human looked at the purple dragon. The human said "Whatever...Spyro...we're leaving for Warfang before the droids regroup...just came over the comm net."

"Ok," said Spyro. He turned to Ember and said, "You think you can fly?" "With you around, I could fly around the world," said Ember. Flame and the human exchanged a glance. Flames own glare was one of jealousy. "Lets just get out of here before we're up to our noses in angry robots."

--

"Uh, do you guys often have missions as weird as this?" asked NegaMorph. "You'd be surprised," said Chip. NegaMorph's remark was chiefly made because of how the cargo hold was now filled up with dragon eggs. Chloe seemed to have inherited some brooding aspects and had ordered, sometimes at gunpoint, some of the crew to guard the eggs, including Negamorph and Chip.

"I still think this is a bit silly," said NegaMorph. "Just be thankful we can't sit on them," said Chip. "Why's that?" asked NegaMorph. "Well, my bottom's hard and metallic, no warmth coming from there," said Chip, "Not to mention you radiate negative energy, which probably doesn't have a good effect on embryos."

"I just hope Matt stays unconscious until this is over...you know he'll use this to tease us." said Negamorph. They'd seen matt, still in dragon form, covered in cuts and bruises and out cold, being taken to the ships infirmary.

"What caused that anyways?" asked NegaMorph. "I heard that he got into a tussle with Devina, which involved her trying to hack into his mind," said Chip. NegaMorph shuddered and said, "Been there, done that, don't wanna to it again." Chip said. "I dunno who probably came out wirse...given Matts state of mind." he said, remembering when the group had gone into Matt's head using a dream amulet. Given what had happened since, it was probably much worse.

"Well, at least those eggs won't be hatching for a while," said NegaMorph, "I do not want to find out if these things imprint on the first person they see." As if the universe had been waiting, one of the eggs twitched for a second, making the two jump in terror. Luckily it was a false alarm.

--

Outside, the last few remnants of Ardanos's men were crowding into their dropships or into the Nighthawk. Meanwhile, Polar was deep in discussion with the other Dragon Elder. She was a very thin dragoness that was dark brown in colour, indicating her element to be Poison. Chloe walked up the small hill to talk to them. The last eggs and hatchlings incapable of the flight to Warfang were aboard and it was time to go. She stopped for a second before making a polite cough.

"Ah, Miss Lynch is it?" asked Palor. "Chloe, if you don't mind," said Chloe, "Who's this?" "This is my mate and colleague, Arsenia." Arsenia tipped her head in acknowledgement and said, "I have heard much of what you and your brother have done. You are both very brave." "No...Me and Matt just hate to see other people in trouble if we can help." said Chloe, modestly before adding as an afterthought. "...though its usually to clear up a mess My dear brother caused,"

"There are also tales of you being a rather odd pair," said Palor. "Yes...I tend to think longer then 5 seconds into the future...Matt usually causes explosions." said Chloe with a smirk. Arsenia looked somewhat confused at this but said, "Not too many dragons your age could challenge one of Malefor's generals and win."

"We've had...interesting lives." said Chloe. "So it would seem," said Palor, "By the way, has your brother recovered yet?" "Last I saw him, Ardanos was having his medic take a look. He's still out cold. Devina tried some kind of mind kibosh on him." said Chloe.

Arsenia frowned and said, "I have heard of that ability of hers. Either your brother has a very strong mind, or there's something unusual about him." "We're from the master dimension...you might not know it. Everyone from that has the ability to block mental manipulation to an extent." explained Chloe.

"Interesting," said Arsenia, "Reminds me of the world of the Atlanteans. They were said to be able to resist mental manipulation too." "Nah...it can't be that...could it?" said Chloe before remembering why she'd come up here. "The last of the eggs are aboard...I personally made sure. We're all set to leave when you're ready." "Very good," said Palor, "They shall be much safer within the walls of Warfang."

Palor and Arsenia looked at the damaged village one last time. "So many memories fo this place," said Palor. "It is hard to leave them all behind," said Arsenia. "But it's for the best we move," said Palor, "We cannot sacrifice the future to bring back the past."

As if listening, the horn-like noise of the T-3 preparing to move sounded over the valley. The two dragons and Chloe headed back to the Nighthawk, Chloe running aboard it. The cluster of ships and dragons lifted off and flew over the end of the canyon, just as the T-3 turned its pulse plasers on the remaining buildings.

--

Malefor was less than pleased with the end results. "How could you have lost?" he demanded, "Anton performed better than you, and he's only half dragon." The four Generals all turned to glare angrily at Anton, who just smirked annoyingly. "We weren't expecting that Shar-Khan to turn up with the purple dragon." said Avarona, in a slurred voice. Cynder's poison was obviously still in effect.

"Although, I believe I did manage to damage a portion of Matt's mind," said Devina. She spoke softly because that psychic backlash had given her a dragon-sized headache. Anton laughed loudly, making her growl in discomfort. "That's a good one...nobody breaks into a A-001'er's mind...trust me on this." he said.

"Well, thank to some kind of nightmare he's had recently, I did break in!" shouted Devina. She then winced as her head throbbed from her loud voice. Malefor looked at her coldly. "How much did you manage to do before you were removed?" he asked. "I'm not sure," said Devina, "Probably enough for a subliminal infiltration."

"I don't know what removed me...it was...a cold presence." said Devina, getting Anton's attention. "You might have actually done some good...I'd hate to be in their shoes when Mr Lynch wakes up." he said.

--

Meanwhile, the Nighthawk had made it back to Warfang and they were busy unloading the eggs. NegaMorph couldn't help because of his potentially negative influence. Not that he didn't want to help a little. "Look. I'm not going to instantly turn them evil if I help carry them for 30 seconds." he said to Techo.

"We can't take that chance," said Techo, "Besides, you could also affect their lifesigns or cause them to be born malformed." "Ok, now you're just trying to insult me," said NegaMorph. Techo thought about this. "Yes...yes, I am." he said and walked off. Negamorph wandered off, muttering about what he'd arrange to happen to Techo later. He was just finalizing a plan to teleport Chupy to Avalar and lock him in Techo's room when he saw Spyro, being followed by the pink dragon they'd rescued.

"Uh, really, you don't need to repay me," said Spyro. "Oh, but I do," said Ember, "And what better way than promising to be your-" Then she spotted NegaMorph and screamed. She hid behind Spyro and cried, "Save me, darling!" NegaMorph stared and said, "I'm not sure whether to get mad or to burst out laughing." Spyro sighed. "Its ok, Ember. This guys called Negamorph. He's a good guy." he said. Negamorph sighed. "Don't worry, Spyro. I'm used to it."

Ember came out behind Spyro and said, "Well, anyone who's a friend of my love plum is certainly a friend of mine." Negamorph actually did start laughing then. "Love...plum...oh, my lord. This is funnier then when Matt pissed off Warden and he had the spiderbots put a landmine on Matt's seat."

Spyro looked like he wanted the ground to swallow him up. "Please don't tell anyone about this," said Spyro. "Oh, I promise," said NegaMorph, two of his fingers crossing behind his back, "but then again, I think you need to worry about her spreading it around." Ember perked up suddenly, smiling. "Thats right. I've got to spread the great news." she said and ran off before anyone could stop her. "I think you're dead." said Negamorph in a matter-of-fact voice.

"I wish I was," groaned Spyro. "Want me to help you bury your head in the sand?" asked NegaMorph. "What good would that do?" asked Spyro. "Nothing really, but you won't have to show anyone your face. Or would you like something to cover your head with?"

--

Meanwhile, Chloe was in the infirmary, despite Lieutenant Lao's protests that he couldn't work as well with her there, keeping an eye on her brother. "Come on...you've survived worse...please walked up." she said. Just then, Cynder came in. "Hey Chloe, have you seen Spyro?" she asked. "Not recently," said Chloe. Cynder looked at Matt and asked, "Is he ok?"

"Lao doesn't know. Physically he's ok...just a few scratches from when Devina tackled him. But somethings going on inside..." she said, looking at her brother who twitched a bit in his sleep. Then Wilson walked by with Contrinus perched on his shoulder. "Well, all I'm saying is that Spyro should consider his relation with Cynder before moving on," Contrinus was saying. This got Cynder's attention. "What? What's that about Spyro?" she said sternly. Both Chloe and Lao exchanged glances and slowly edged behind heavy objects.

"Oh, there's word spreading around that Spyro and some dragoness named Ember are going to be married someday," said Wilson, "Though I don't think you dragons celebrate marriage the same way we do." Cynder's eyes went solid white then and there from sheer fury. "Which...dragoness?" she said, the words falling into place like the hammer strokes of doom.

--

Outside, Flame was trying to get his mind off of Ember, particularly how much she was adoring Spyro right now. Suddenly, there was a roar of anger that made him jump. Then he saw a black dragoness flying off from the Nighthawk. A few of the humans and the bird alien ran out after the dragoness. "Aw crap...this can't be good." said the male human...Wilson...that was his name.

"Did you guys really have to break it to her like that?" asked Chloe. "Like how was I supposed to know she'd explode like that?" asked Contrinus. "What would you do in her position?" demanded Chloe. Contrinus seemed to consider this. "I'd hunt down the female responsible and viciously tear her to tiny bits...then blow up the bits.....oh dear." she said.

"Yeah, now why'd you have to and say it to her?" said Wilson. "As I recall, it was you who told her," said Contrinus. "Well, if you weren't gossiping about it." Flame flew up, having gone pale at Contrinus's words. "Whats going on? Whats this about blowing up bits?" he said anxiously and looked confused when they all pointed at each other aid said "It's their fault."

--

Meanwhile, Spyro's discomfort was at the highest he's ever known it. If the silly pet names and nonstop adoration wasn't enough, he could barely keep Ember off of him. To make things worse, Negamorph hadn't left yet and was not helping thing. He stopped as his comm turned on. "Negamorph...we have a serious problem...Cynder heard the rumour and is on the warpath…BIG TIME. DO SOMETHING." said Chloe.

NegaMorph considered this for a minute and said, "I'll get right on it." "Wait a sec," said Chloe, "I know that tone, you're going to exploit this aren't you?" "Uh, Chlo...can you...tha...mag...feren...call back...." NegaMorph said, faking static before he quickly hung up. He wasn't sure if she bought the fake static, but he did have a limited amount of time before this came to a head and he needed a way to get the most of it.

He was about to start when he saw Sparx flying by. "Yo, bugsy...get over here." he said in an amused voice, waving the dragonfly over. "Wanna have some fun?" he said as Sparx flew over. "What's up?" asked Sparx. "Well, I can tell you're the type of guy who likes to watch funny things happen from a distance," said NegaMorph, "Well, Spyro's caught in a little love triangle with Ember and Cynder. Now, there's the usual taunting and gibing we could do. Or would actually want to profit off of this?"

Sparx stopped to think before saying. "Is there ANY way at all that they may want to hurt us over this later?" he said carefully. "Oh, I don't think so," said NegaMorph, "We just need to play our cards right and make sure we don't get caught in the crossfire."

--

Just then, a black comet crashed nearby. Said comet turned out to be Cynder, practically frothing at the mouth. "SPYYYYYYROOOOOOO!!!" she roared. "Ladies and gentlemen, the show has arrived," said NegaMorph to himself as he and Sparx backed up a considerable distance. Ember jumped a bit and noticed Spyro practically trying to dig a hole in the ground. Cynder turned to glare at Ember, who, unfamilier with Cynder said "Can we help you?" in an icy tone. Both Negamorph and Sparx winced. Flame, Chloe, Wilson and Contrinus had also arrived and had heard Embers response. "Oh no...this can't end well...Wilson...go call Lao." she said faintly.

"What do you think you're doing with Spyro?" demanded Cynder. "Oh, haven you heard about us?" asked Ember, "I thought all the town was talking about how we were going to get married and that we were destined to be." "What did you just say?!" snapped Cynder. Chloe simply planted her face in her hands and as such didn't notice Wilson walk forward to valiantly try to peacefully break it up with Flame. "Now, ladies...lets talk this out like civilized carbon based lifeforms..." began Wilson as Flame, possessing more of a sense of self preservation went over to Spyro.

Cynder snapped her head around and sent out a blast of wind that blew Wilson a considerable distance away into the air. "Boy, you sure do know how to pick them," said Flame, "Ember's a hottie." 'Yeah, I know," said Spyro, "I just hope she doesn't kill me later." "Oh, I'm sorry. Let me say this slowly so you can understand better," said Ember. Then Ember dropped her cute tone and said, "Spyro is my husband and no ashy female dragon can have him, so back off sister! Ya got that!?"

Everyone just stared in shock. Ember looked smug for a second...right up till Cynder glared and said "Why you little pink prick." and actually punched Ember. Things pretty much devolved from there. In a matter of seconds, both dragonesses' were deep into what might be described as a catfight. Both weren't bothering to use their breaths and they were both fighting dirty as much as they could. "I love outdoor theater," said NegaMorph as he pulled out a popcorn bag. "Popcorn?" he said as he offered one to Sparx.

Chloe spotted this however and homed in on Negamorph. "So...this is your idea of 'helping', is it?" she said, in a worryingly sweet tone. NegaMorph glanced at her and said, "Relax, I'm sure it'll settle itself out eventually. This is the natural order of things." Chloe glared and said "So is this." and electrocuted Negamorph into a greasy smear before stomping off.

"Don't you think we should stop them?" asked Contrinus. "Not yet," said Flame and Spyro at the same time, both too absorbed in the hot fight going on. Contrinus gave them a short glare before huffing, "Ugh, men." Finally Ember lunged, claws out at Cynder's face, making her blast the pink dragoness with her wind breath. That was enough for Spyro. "Thats enough." he said angrily.

He walked over to Ember and said, "Look, Ember, I know you like me a lot, but I've only just met you. I've been around Cynder longer and we've got a closer relationship. I can like you too, but only as a friend. I'm sure you and Cynder can be friends, right Cynder?" Cynder put on a false smile and said, "Yes, sure, best friends."

Flame went over and helped Ember up. "Wow...she totally kicked your butt." he said before smiling at Ember. "Well...at least you still got me, eh?" Ember gave him a short glare before pushing him over. "Oh well, fun's over," said Sparx. "That, my little insectoid friend, is where you're wrong," said NegaMorph as his head reformed, "The battle's over, but the war has just begun." Sparx actually looked a bit worried. "Erm...don't you think it would be better not to encourage this? Especially after what Matt's sister just did to you?" he said.

"Ah, this is nothing," said NegaMorph as he started putting his torso together, "But, I have an idea of how to settle this lover's triangle. But first, let's see if Ember tries to do anything first."

--

In fact, Ember already had a plot that Negamorph would have been so proud of. She'd also press-ganged Flame into her little plot and the two had followed Spyro and Cynder to the town square. "Ok..." she said, hugging the worried Flame close to her. "Just like we rehearsed."

Suddenly Ember called loudly, "Oh, I feel so weak! I can barely stand! Catch me, Flame!" Ember tilted over and Flame moved beside to catch her. "I have you, Ember my dear. I shall take care of you." he said in a very fake manly tone of voice. After a minute Ember whispered. "Is Spyro getting jealous?" Flame looked over. "No...but Cynder looks like she enjoyed it." he said uncertainly. Cynder must have loved the performance as she was rolling on the floor, laughing hard enough to bust a gut.

--

Not too far off, NegaMorph said, "Told you she'd try the jealousy routine, pay up." The mole grumbled and handed NegaMorph a few gold coins. "What are you doing?" asked Sparx. "Don't tell me you've never heard of betting before," said NegaMorph.

--

Flame looked over at Ember who was glaring the equilivent of a full scale nuclear attack at Cynder. "You know. Spyro did say he only see's you as a friend." he said before smiling his grin again and saying "But hey. Now we can move onto me. You know I'm sexy too." This turned out not to go as he'd intended.

Ember gave Flame a monstrous glare and roared "I AM AN ADORABLE PINK DRAGON AND I WILL HAVE SPYRO ALL TO MYSELF ONE WAY OR ANOTHER!" Even Negamorph, who was about 5 meters away cringed away at this. Seeing Ember looking so angry was like being savaged by a comatose sheep. Poor Flame however bore the full brunt of this and whimpered "Eep...ok."

--

Meanwhile, Spyro managed to slink away and found Chloe and Techo keeping an eye on the unconscious Matt, who was still in Dragon form. "Boy, have I been having a rough day," he moaned. "Tell me about it," said Chloe. "Why is Ember so hooked on me?" asked Spyro. Techo, who was fixing a broken conduit, looked over. "Oh, thats easy...D.I.D syndrome." he said in a matter of fact voice.

"D-I-what?" asked Spyro. Chloe rolled her eyes and said, "Short for 'damsel in distress'. But then again, I guess you wouldn't have damsels here, not like ours." Spyro still looked confused so Chloe elaborated, "Ember's attached to you because you save her. Being a hero makes her see you as superior to all other males. Happens all the time." Spyro said "And you know how to cure it?" he said, hopefully. Techo smiled "Sure...just stun her and move to another colony...ah...that might not work." he said seeing Chloes and Spyro's expressions.

"Oh, right, not applicable here," said Techo. "Uh, I'm sure it will wear off... in a couple of years," said Chloe. Spyro just groaned and put his head on the floor.

A groan from the infirmary room Matt was in got everyone's attention. Matt was finally coming around. "Oh, Matt, thank goodness," said Chloe as she rushed over, "I thought Devina might have done something awful to your mind." Matt made a faint 'come here' gesture. Spyro however had a bad feeling. He'd seen Matt able to talk after waking up from much worse injuries. "Er, Chloe?" he said but Chloe wasn't listening.

"I'm here, Matt, what is it?" asked Chloe. Suddenly, a nasty smirk appeared on Matt's face as his eyes flashed red. The next second, his clawed hand had pierced Chloe's stomach. "I'm sorry, Captain lynch can't come to the phone. Would you like to leave a message?" said Draconus, twisting his hand a bit before tossing Chloe aside and jumping up onto all fours with frightening agility. "Finally...I'm here to stay." he said, ignoring the gasping, semi-conscious Chloe before seeing the horrified Techo and Spyro. "Who's the purple half-pint? New mascot?" he said.

"Spyro, Matt's second personality is control," said Techo quickly, "Matt's still in there, but he's currently dormant. Don't try to kill this guy or else you'll kill Matt too." "Oh...the famous Spyro...Sorry to tell you, Techo, but Matt's as good as dead...just like you're going to be." Draconus said before sending a torrent of plasma flame at the two.

"We can't let him leave the ship," said Spyro, "He'll probably rip apart the entire city." "Yes...unless you give me ship control...I know matt made it so it would lock the system if I got control." said Draconus, smugly. He didn't notice Chloe start to drag herself towards a security locker behind him.

"You're not going anywhere," said Techo. "Oh? And who's going to stop me?" said Draconus, "You?" Suddenly, a vortex of shadows appeared on the wall with an angry roar coming from it. "Yep," said Techo, "With some help from him." Draconus turned towards the shadows as Negamorph came out, eyes red. He was immediately focussed on Chloe. "Who did this?" he snarled. Draconus smirked and waved his blood soaked claws. "That would be me, blobby." he said.

NegaMorph snarled and hissed, "You'll pay for that!" Then he lunged at Draconus, claws and fangs completely bared. Draconus quickly demonstrated his difference from Matt when he dodged Negamorphs first lunge and sent a blast of plasma flame into the shadow experiments spine in passing.

NegaMorph winced in pain, but his fury gave him plenty enough fighting strength to turn and latch onto Draconus back, raking his claws down his sides. Draconus snarled and blasted Negamorph again before running out the door. Techo and Spyro ran over to Chloe and Negamorph. "Dammit, Negamorph...thats not just Draconus in there...something must have damaged Lynches inhibitor." said Techo.

Chloe looked at Negamorph. "Go...get my brother back...in one piece." she said weakly before passing out. "I'll look after her...go with Spyro and get him back here, Negamorph." said Techo, putting Chloe on the rooms bed.

--

Draconus ran down the ramp into the city and looked around. He was just deciding where to go when several of Matt's crew suddenly turned on their comms before looking in his direction. "Sorry guys," said Draconus, "But Matt's on permanent vacation." He then sent out a torrent of plasma fire which caused them all to dodge to one side.

A few of Ardanos's men were unfortunately also there and they started firing, causing the other inhabitants to flee. Draconus just laughed, dodging the energy rounds and sending out blasts of plasma energy in return with more accuracy.

Just then, Spyro and NegaMorph flew out. "We mustn't let him get into populated areas," said Spyro, "The Dragon Elders will think it's Matt doing it." "Thats a great idea...thanks for that, general." said Draconus before spitting a few blasts at them. "Can't leave you two to ruin the surprise though."

"I think we can keep him preoccupied, but not for long," said NegaMorph, "We have to immobilize him somehow." Spyro nodded. "I got the perfect way." he said and sent a blast of ice breath at Draconus who only dodged it. "Guess I outstayed my welcome." he muttered before taking off, flying with frightening speed for the outer wall, intent on escape.

NegaMorph understood what Spryo was trying for and morphed into Viral Slushy. He then blew a huge cloud of freezing air at Draconus. Draconus barely managed to dodge it but Negamorphs shot allowed Spyro's next ice breath blast to hit dead centre in Draconus's back, freezing his left wing solod and knocking him out the sky.

"That won't hold him for long," said Viral Slushy, "Keep it up!" Before Spyro could comply, he saw some of Ardanos's men aiming at Draconus with their blasters. Spyro ran at them. "Hey...stop that." he yelled. The closest trooper just glared and was about to shoot Draconus when a lightning bolt shocked him. Chloe, being helped along by Techo and Wilson said "Next one who tries that is ash." in a pained voice.

"But, he just tried to frag us," said one of the troopers. Chloe glanced at Draconus, who was being put inside a large ice shell by Viral Slushy. "I supposed you haven't been briefed about Matt's secondary personality," said Chloe. "Who? Thats just an urban..." he said before wilting under Chloe's glare.

--

A short time later, Draconus was being held in one of the Nighthawk's cells. Fortunately, Matt had thought something like this could happen and had one cell proofed against him. Chloe was sitting in the security room, watching and listening to Draconus pace around, screaming happily how it had been so easy to take control this time.

"It was so easy," crowed Draconus, "I just had to rerun that torture nightmare a couple of times to weaken the defenses. Then that black dragon bimbo cracked them open. It was like walking through an open gate!" Chloe glared as Draconus bragged on. "Though...A few rounds in a combine interrogation room would crack anyone...its not like he was weak...no wait...he WAS!" he yelled, before laughing.

Chloe's eyes widened in realization and she turned on the intercom. "Staff meeting, people," she said, "I think I know what's wrong with Matt."

**Oh no…what memory caused Matt to crack like an egg? Find out next chapter in chapter 6: Origin of Madness.**


	7. Origins of Madness

**Spyro, Cynder, and all other Spyro related characters are property of Sierra studios. **

**Draco, Contrinus, Chip and Cydra are property of my co-author, Cydra. **

**Matt, his merc team, the NSC and related tech, the ancients/atlanteans and malefors dragon generals are mine.**

**The flashback was inspired by the 'battle of the line' from the movie, Babylon 5: In the beginning'  
**

**CPS Chronicles: Forgotten Blood**

**Chapter 6: Origin of Madness**

Chloe sat with her head in her hands. The others had all arrived five minutes ago. Even Flame and Ember had turned up, though several guards were keeping an eye on her and Cynder. "You, I don't get it," said Chip, "I always thought Matt's hinges were a little loose, but I thought it was because his brain got fried because of that Splitter liquor."

"That helped a bit...but the medical nanites can fix that type of damage...no...this happened awhile later." said Chloe, looking up.

"She's got a point," said NegaMorph, "Brain damage doesn't affect a person's psyche like this. This is the result of past trauma, right Chloe?"

"Worse...Remember the combine?" said Chloe

"Well, I certainly noticed that Matt wanted to keep a clear distance from them when we went to look for Kala," said Chip.

"Well...it began a few year ago...we'd got a lot of good press in exposing Executive Genetics' illegal weapon program...and we'd landed a huge contract with an NSC fleet...running escort for a deep range research ship near the Combine border..."

--

**NSS Achillies**

**Badlands/combine confederation border**

**2 months since exposure of Executive Genetics**

"So... what kinda of research is supposed to be going?" asked Matt as he was juggling his wristcomp, an empty coffee mug, and his old digivice.

"Oh...some wormhole's been found...NSC want to claim it before the Combine do." said another merc speaking with an Irish accent, called Damian "We get the fun job of flying recon in the area."

"Goody, goody," said Matt, "Well, at least this isn't as strenuous as my last job."

Another merc, a lionness anthro said "Yeah...I hear Exo-Gene's had to promote a whole new board of directors...apparently half of the old directors were in on this Kurata guys idea."

"That's the trouble with having a corporation," said Matt, "Too many of the people who get on the board are usually corrupt."

"Or are too dumb to call for outside help...they were trying to deal with it themselves." said the lioness anthro. The P.A sounded. "Approaching destination...all pilots to briefing room 2."

Matt stopped juggling and put the juggling materials away. Except for the coffee mug, he was planning on filling it up again later.

--

The briefing was as Matt and Chloe had expected...check the surrounding area for marauder ships before the rest of the fleet flies into range. Nothing extravagant. Matt was personally happy when they were allowed to take their fighters, S-41 Starfuries out for the run. "Ok...how many marauding asteroids do you think we'll see?" he said over the squadron comm channel, getting a few chuckles.

"You need to take this more seriously, Matt," said Chloe, "I don't think you realize how potentially dangerous this could be."

"Like what? The combine never come out of their little homemade empire...and the marauders give the border a wide berth...this is easy money," said Matt

"Famous last words," muttered Chloe.

The only area of interest was a moon that seemed to have been smashed by some unknown cataclysm in the distant past. As it was the only place a marauder fleet could hide he squadron flew towards it. "Like I said...rocks...eeevil rocks." said Matt in a taunting voice

"Let's not take any chances," said Chloe.

Matt yawned and said. "Ok...do a sweep, guys." The search turned up nothing, as expected but as they flew back out the rubble to call the 'all clear' signal, Matt noticed a blip, just for a second. "Wha...did anyone else see that?" he said.

"See what?" asked Damian.

Matt sighed. "Nothing...Chloe's got me jumping at nothing...Achillies. This is Delta 1...all clear for the fleet to jump in."

Then the rest of the fleet came through the warp. "Ok then," said the captain of the Achilles, "Let's land on that moon and then..."

Suddenly a bright green beam hit the bridge tower on the Achillies, blowing it to junk. At the same time the sensor readout for Matt's fighter went crazy and several warp points opened around the fleet, spewing forth a dozen Combine vessels and hundreds of their insectoid looking fighters.

"SCATTER!!" screamed Matt as he started flying away from the Combine fleet.

The Starfury was made to fly around in zero gravity with all the grace of a dolphin in the sea...but compared to the Combine fighters hey were standing still. The first volley sliced two fighters in half and caught another on its yop-left booster, sending it spinning into the side of a combine ship. The NSC fleet was being systematically erased from existence in a hail of laser fire.

Matt was trying his best to avoid being hit by the laser blasts when he saw Damian ship head straight for a cruiser. "What do you think you're doing?!" shouted Matt.

"I got a clear run...I can take this guy." said Damian. Matt all but screamed. "DAMMIT...ITS A TARP...BREAK OFF...BREAK O..." and stopped as a beam from the cruiser blew Damian, screaming out of space

Matt didn't have time for grief seeing as how he was apparently next on the demolitions list.

All around him he could see delta squad valiantly...but ultimately futilely trying to do any damage whatsoever. One after the other they were blown away till barely 3 were left.

"I don't think we're going to get out of this one," said the lioness anthro. "No," said Matt, "But we're sure as heck gonna make sure we leave some damage before we go out." "Why not?" said Chloe, "Nothing else to do."

The three pilots formed their fighters into a small V formation and began flying full tilt at the lead combne ship. "Lets go park down their throats." said Matt angrily

"I'd rather fight and die than live with the knowledge that I ran," growled the lioness. "Uh, running's not an option here," said Chloe. "Chloe, dramatic moment, please," chided Matt in an attempt at his usual humour.

The Combine ship seemed to finally realise the danger and began firing at the small group, hitting the lionesses fighter dead center. "DAMMIT!" swore Matt before a different beam hit Chloes ship, being a translucent white in colour

"Matt, they're not zapping me, it's a tractor beam!" called Chloe as her ship started being pulled forwards.

Matt turned to shoot at where the beam was emerging when a second one hit his. "Bugger." he said, hitting buttons to no effect.

"Since when do the Combine take live prisoners?" asked Matt. "When they want someone to interrogate," replied Chloe. But then whatever further conversation could have followed was stopped by a pulse that the tractor beam gave off, electrocuting and knocking them both unconscious.

--

There was a long moment of silence after Chloe finished her description of the battle. "What happened after that?" asked Techo.

"They did interrogate us," said Chloe. "They thought we were a scouting party for an invasion fleet. They tried to force the 'truth' out of Matt. They didn't hurt me, for some reason they don't like harming females but they made me listen to Matt's screams."

Chloe slumped into her hands again. "Finally, we were rescued when an NSC fleet managed to catch up with the ship we were on. Matt spent 2 months in stasis recovering from whatever they did...and he just...shut it away." she said

"So he's been keeping all that trauma simmering inside him all this time?" said NegaMorph, "It's a wonder he hasn't cracked sooner."

"Oh...he has...more then once...remember back on the space elevator?" she said, gloomily.

"He did go berserk that time we were escaping the caverns." said Spyro.

Chloe nodded. "He never really got over it...blamed himself fpr what happened." she said before adding "And judging from Draconus's boasting, he's being made to face reruns of his interrogation...no wonder he's caved."

"So how is it we're going to treat him?" asked Techo, "I don't think anyone here has a degree in psychology."

Wilson added "And the dream amulets back in New York...so no way in to help him out that way."

"Actually, I think Volteer has some kinda dream-visiting spell thingy," said Sparx, "He mentioned it once, but there was a bunch of technical mumbo jumbo threw in with it."

Chloe sighed. "I'm not going to leave my brother in this nightmare Draconus cooked up..." she said by way of deciding.

"So it's settled then," said Wilson, "We ask Volteer to send us into Matt's head, we snap him out of his nightmare redux, and he goes back to normal. Plain and simple." "Uh, do you have any idea what it's like inside Matt's subconscious?" asked Chip.

Wilson shrugged. "Can't be that bad." Chip said flatly "We were chased by an economy size massacrate." Wison and Techo looked at each other. "We'll erm...guard Draconus." said Techo valiantly ignoring Chloes faint.

--

"Certainly," said Volteer after the gang had approached him about their idea, "Subliminal visits into the sub consciousness are a matter of achievable ability." The group just exchanged glances. "Good?" said Chloe after a minute. "I think he said it would be easy to get into Matt's mind," said Chip.

Chloe sighed. "He did complain about some amulet once...something about he might as well imagine a revolving door or something." Cynder turned to Chip and said, "You're the only one here that can give a reliable description of what the inside of Matt's head's like. How bad is it in there?" Chip considered his words carefully for a minute before saying, "Expect...weirdness."

Chloe however was not as confident. Matt had mentioned his first encounter with Volteers spells...more precisely a teleport spell that had dumped him in a frozen waste for 2 hours. "You sure this won't go wrong?" she asked. "Not to worry," said Volteer, "The probability of a mishap regarding this spell is virtually nonexistent." Chloe gulped. She got a feeling that somewhere, whatever lifeform was in charge of murphy's law was rubbing its hands together.

"I should mention that for full effectiveness the mind that is to be infiltrated must be in a state of little to no activity as well the body to be unable to retaliate," said Volteer. Chloe shrugged. "So...someone has to brain Draconus till he's out cold?" she said. Volteer nodded. "Yes...sufficient blunt force trauma would be effective." he said. Chloe sighed. "I had a feeling it might be."

She activated her comm and said, "Guys, I've got good news and bad news. We can get into Matt's mind, but Draconus has to be out cold first." "Oh, that won't be a problem," said Contrinus, "He's already out like a light." Chloe looked at the comm. "Ok...I know I probably won't like the explanation but...why?" she said, sighing.

"Well," said Contrinus, "he said I wasn't worth being the mate of a warrior like Draco and I didn't take that comment too well. Next thing I knew, I was slamming him against the walls by his tail." Chloe stared at the comm in shock. "Ok then...well...if he starts groaning...hit him again."

--

In due time, a small 'rescue party' was put together. Chloe was leading with Cynder, Flame, and Ember accompanying her. Spyro chose to stay behind in case Draconus needed to be subdued again. NegaMorph had to stay since his negative aura could cause even worse dreams for Matt.

"So...how will this work?" said Chloe. Volteer looked over from his preparations and said "Well...your minds will have to be in a similar state of inactivity to Draconus." Chloe looked at Volteer. "Well...I'm not having Contrinus swing me around."

"We have some nitrus oxide around here, right?" asked NegaMorph. Chloe turned her glare on Negamorph. "Go guard Draconus." she said. As a result she didn't see Volteer mutter a sleeping spell at her. Negamorph sighed with relief as she crumpled, snoring. "Ok...she isn't in a laughing gas mood then."

"One more thing," said Volteer, "Unlike that other dream infiltration device you had mentioned before, this spell has considerably less safeguards so termination within the infiltrated mind will cause corporeal termination." Cynder looked over at the sleeping Chloe. "So basically, die in dream, die here." she said and gulped as Volteer nodded in confirmation.

"You'd better pass that onto Chloe when you meet up with her," said Spyro, "We'll keep an eye on you too. If things look like they're going too bad, we'll pull you out."

--

Chloe opened her eyes to find herself on what looked like the bridge of the Nighthawk. She looked around to see Cynder, Flame and Ember waking up as well. As she got up, she noticed that the bridge was in great disrepair. There were scorch marks everywhere from where blasts had hit and several parts of the walls, floor, and equipment were either cracked or completely ripped open.

All the screens that, from Chips description of what they should expect, should have been showing memories were all displaying the same red screen or were flickering. Chloe tapped one and a image of one of Delta squadrons exploding starfuries could be seen, the view moving around rapidly to see another. It was apparently from matts point of view.

"Hmm, I don't like what Draconus has done with the place," said Chloe, "I'm no expert on the matter, but this just screams bad fung shua." The door out of the bridge was jammed shut but was forced open by all four. The corridor wasn't the usual one. Chloe looked both ways in worry. "Chip never said Matt had a corridor decked out like a Combine cruiser." she said. The same damage was evident, fallen panels showing the usual look underneath the panels.

"You don't think that Draconus was expecting us, do you?" said Cynder, "Because if he was, than he'd be trying to psyche us out." As if on cue a agonised scream sounded down the corridor. "You mean like that?" said Flame.

"Oh, if only my hubby were here," said Ember, "He'd make sure nothing bad would ever happen to me." Cynder glared at Ember and stopped as Chloe sighed and said "Leave it...vent it on Draconus when we find him."

--

Meanwhile, Draconus, still in dragon form, was being closely observed. "Would Cynder be in trouble if Draconus woke up?" asked Spyro. Negamorph said "Apparently if he wakes up they can't get out till he falls asleep again." Wilson added "Which is why Contrinus has hit him over the head twice already."

NegaMorph glanced towards Contrinus and said, "You know, I've heard about women hitting people with frying pans and rolling pins, but she's the first one I know that actually makes it look scary." Admittedly, Contrinus wasn't using a frying pan. She had a fire extinguisher in her hand, a large dent already knocked into it. Draconus seemed to be out cold or at least currently had the common sense to pretend to be unconscious.

"Remind me to think twice before ruffling her feathers," muttered Wilson. Wilson and Techo yawned. "We're gonna dig up some food...who knows how long they'll be in there...we'll be across the corridor."

However, Draconus wasn't as unconscious as they thought he was. He knew when was the best time to play possum, especially where fire extinguishers are involved. He already had a plan and now the only two people with plasma rifles had left, he put it into action, faking a fake groan and opening his eyes to look at Contrinus. "I meant what you said...maybe he'll be better off with Devina?" he said.

Contrinus gave a raptor-like shrill and flew straight at Draconus. But then Draconus whacked her with his tail and sent her flying straight into NegaMorph's head-mouth. It was a rather funny sight with Contrinus's legs and tail sticking out of NegaMorph's stuffed mouth.

Draconus jumped up and smirked at Negamorph. "You got something in your throat...let me HELP!" he said and headbutted Negamorph in the gut. The impact sent NegaMorph sailing backwards and made him hit a wall in a non-cushioning way. It had also caused Contrinus to be expelled and she hit a wall too. They both slid to the ground, both looking dazed. Draconus turned to see Spyro. "One more then I'm outta here..." he said.

Spyro growled and said, "You won't get by me so easily. I'm on my guard." "So am I...I tend to wise up...and I know this ship as well at Matt." Draconus said with a sneer before spitting a plasma blast at an energy relay in the wall next to Spyro.

Spyro threw himself out of the way as the energy relay exploded. However it gave Draconus the opening to head out the door, knocking a surprised Techo and Wilson down. "Oh hell...tell me that wasn't who I think it was." said Wilson, heading in to see the others. Contrinus looked a bit out of it and was coated in black goo stains from her trip into Negamorphs throat. Negamorph himself was still wheezing a bit from Draconus's sucker punch. "Dammit...is everyone good?" he said.

"Not for long if we don't stop Draconus," said Spyro as he got back up. Wilson nodded. "Is she ok?" he said, looking at Contrinus. "She had a rather... uncomfortable experience," said Spyro, "I wouldn't ask too much about it." Techo sighed. "Lets just hope there's nothing lasting...specially after that shade a few months back." he said.

NegaMorph coughed and said, "Ugh, I really need something to drink. I'm going to be spitting feathers for a week."

--

Back in Matt's brain, the gang had decided against all natural common sense to follow the screams. The corridors were utterly deserted of all life and were getting darker as the group went on. "Uh, who else is getting creeped out by all this?" asked Flame.

"Everyone...don't let it bother you." said Chloe, looking into a room to see nothing...just empty space...including no floor. "Ok...unusual." she said. Another scream, now very close sounded from a door at the end of the corridor, followed by a aristocratic voice saying. "Please, Corporal Lynch...all these lies are getting you nothing."

"That must be where Matt is," said Cynder, "We just need to go in there and tell him this is all in the past, right?" "Not easy...I know its been a day for us...but in here it could have been years..." said Chloe. Despite this she walked over to the door and kicked it open. A Reptillian alien looked over in shock.

"What the hell? Guards!" he said before Chloe punched him. She then saw Matt. He was strapped to a chair making a pitiful moaning noise. He looked like he had flu, pale and sweating. His eyes were almost red from bloodshot and he was slumped in the seat, two electrode devices on his forehead making a humming noise that seemed to be the cause of his discomfort.

"Ok, if anyone around here is causing my brother mental discomfort, it's going to be me," said Chloe, her hands becoming covered with electricity. Matt made a noise and looked up. "No...he's going too far now..." he said in a dry voice before slumping back down. "Fuck off, Draconus."

"Matt, I'm real," said Chloe as she blasted the Combine alien just as it was getting up, "We broke into your head and we're to break you out. Well, metaphorically speaking of course." "Oh please...now you're just pushing it." said Matt and was shocked when Chloe slapped him across the face.

"Is that enough evidence or do I need to get rougher?" asked Chloe in a 'I'm-not-kidding' tone. "We'll see...let me out of this." said Matt in his same dull voice. Chloe unclipped him and made a horrified noise when he simply slumped forward. "...ouch," said Matt weakly. Whatever had been done to him had taken its toll.

"Ok, Matt, since this is your mind, you call the shots in here, right?" asked Cynder. "Not at the moment...he's in charge right now." said Matt as Chloe helped him to a sitting position. Everyone could guess who 'he' was. Suddenly the lighting changed to red emergency lighting and a klaxon began wailing. "Speak of the devil..." said Matt.

"This is the part where we start running, right?" asked Ember. "Matt's not running anywhere...not in his condition." said Chloe angrily. Matt sighed. "You got in here once...get out my head and come back later." he said. "Not until we're sure that it'll be you controlling your body when we get out," said Chloe. "Uh, by the way, how do we get out of here?" asked Flame.

"My brain...my rules...get out before Draconus turns you into lizard skin boots." said Matt. "But you'd right back under his power," said Cynder. "So? I know you'll be along again later." said Matt. "Alright, fine, if you insist," said Chloe. She tried to will herself awake, but the scenery didn't change at all. "Ok, this is a problem," she said. "What is? Get out my head." said Matt, not even bothering to conceal his own worry.

"I'm trying," said Chloe, "but I can't wake up. Something must have happened in the real world." "Like what?" Matt said, getting up. Suddenly a cry came from down the corridor. Two guards, holding combine pulse rifles, came into View. "There...commander Draconus wants them dead." said one.

"'Commander Draconus'?" said Chloe questionably, "Isn't that a bit egotistical?" "C'mon...you have met him...run?" said Matt. Chloe helped him up and put a arm round him to help him move. "That'll work." she said. The first guard began shooting at the group. "HEY...CAREFUL WITH MY BRAIN!" yelled Matt, despite the situation.

As the group ran away from the 'guards', Chloe yelled, "I'm really considering sending you to a psychiatric ward after this!" "Comfy foamy walls and no psycho's taking pot shots at me? Count me in!" retorted Matt as the group ran round the corner.

"But this is your head, isn't it?" asked Cynder, "Can you do something to give us an advantage like, I don't know, turn the guards into shrimps or give us superpowers or something?" "Erm...not in charge?" said Matt.

"Well, how do you get back in charge?" asked Flame. "Usually the inhibitor mod on my wrist computer dies it...obviously it needs a software update." said Matt, peering round to look for pursuit...surprisingly there wasn't any for now.

"So what do we do? Knock Draconus off his control throne?" asked Cynder. "We could try just beating him to a mushy pulp...then jumping up and down on it...usually works in most cases." suggested Matt. "Anything that'll work," said Ember desperately, "I just want to get out of this creepy place."

"Oh, but I like it creepy," said a dark voice, "I think it's rather appropriate." The group turned to see what looked like Matts spitting image...till you saw the eyes. They weren't the harmlessly mad, friendly eyes of Matt...these were cruel cold eyes without an ounce of warmth in them. "You're not leaving without saying farewell are you?" said Draconus.

"We're not leaving until we put you back in your cage," snapped Chloe. "Not like we could leave if we wanted to," muttered Flame. Draconus smiled. "Oh good...torturing the same guy over and over get bored." he said.

"This is Matt's brain, you know," said Cynder, "Just because you're able to control his body doesn't mean you can completely control his brain. Matt's the original and you're just a copy." Draconus sighed. "Wrong...dead wrong....let me demonstrate." he said and waved a hand, causing a cluster of shards to shoot down the corridor at Cynder.

Everyone dived out of the way to avoid being hit. "Why can't you do that sort of thing?" said Ember to Matt. "Because his willpower's inferior to mine," said Draconus. Matt glared. "Get stuffed...EEP!" he said as a blade almost took his head off.

"Matt, I realize you're tired right now, but CAN YOU GET US A WAY OUT OF HERE?!?" shouted Chloe. Matt gulped and closed his eyes, wincing with effort. It seemed to work as another klaxon sounded and a blast door lowered between the group and a shocked Draconus.

"Good job," said Chloe, "Now, how about some automatic weapons to..." She stopped when she noticed Matt had fallen over from exhaustion. "Great...I hope the others are having luck on the outside." said Chloe.

--

Back in the real world, Draconus was making the most of his escape. The only problem was that his head was a bit crowded at the moment. "Right...kill those idiots real world bodies...steal the ship...leave a few nukes behind. Problem solved." he muttered.

Draconus finally reached the temple and knocked on the door. "Think like that goody two-shoes...right till that stupid tin can opens the door...then blast him into the next area code." he muttered.

--

NegaMorph, Spyro and Contrinus had not given up the fight yet. They had been pursuing Draconus and were just a few feet behind him when Chip opened the temple's door. Draconus smirked toothily. "Psyche." he said and blasted Chip in the face, jumping over him and into the temple.

"You know, I'd love to play 'kick the can' with you," said Draconus to the greatly-burnt Chip, "But I've got a few voices in my head that I really need to shut up." He then charged up some powerful plasma orbs in his mouth and pointed towards Chloe and Cynder's bodies.

"That is it!" snapped Contrinus, "I can stand being mocked, I can stand be shoved into a small, dark, wet place, but I will not stand by and let that bastard slaughter our friends!" Suddenly, her body let out a brilliant flash of light which caused NegaMorph to scream, "My eyes!"

Draconus hissed in discomfort, turning his head away. He finally turned back to see Contrinus's outline. "What the hell? A flying lightbulb." he said, before spitting the orbs at her. Draconus's jaw dropped rapidly when the orbs actually burnt up before they reached her. That was because Contrinus was now covered in nova flames, like a small star, accompanied by the intense heat, light, and UV rays.

"Impressive...now get out the way or your friends are toast." he hissed before jumping to avoid a fire blast from Spyro. "You're the one who's going to be toast!" yelled Contrinus, her voice oddly echoing through her solar aura. Draconus didn't look convinced. "Doesn't matter how many of you there are...kill me and your friends are all dead..Lynch included." he sneered.

"Not if we stop you first!" shouted NegaMorph. He lunged forward and missed Draconus by several feet. And Draconus didn't even have to move. Draconus looked over at Negamorph, amused. "I'm so scared." he said, barely stopping himself from laughing.

"I'll wipe that grin off your face," said NegaMorph and started shooting fangs in every direction he can. After a minute, Negamorph said "Did I get him?" Draconus did start sniggering at this. "Not exactly." he said. The fang darts had hit everything but a living person.

"NegaMorph, are you okay?" asked Spyro, worried about NegaMorph's sudden lapse of aim. "Well, my eyeballs do tingle a bit," said NegaMorph, "…and I kinda wished didn't Contrinus didn't turn out all the lights."

"Erm..." said Spyro. Negamorphs eyes had been fried by Contrinus;s flash bang impression and had not regenerated yet. A plasma orb got Spyro back to the world in general as Draconus lunged at him, claws out.

"Looks like you're out of useable friends," said Draconus. "Aren't you forgetting Contrinus?" said Spyro. "Oh please," said Draconus, "I can pluck that little firebird any day of the-" He was cut off as Contrinus landed on his back and dug her now yellow-hot claws into his back. "GRAAAH!" roared Draconus and stopped as Spyro blasted him in the chest with an earth shot.

"You wouldn't dare kill me," said Draconus, "If I die, Matt goes with me. And I doubt your dream-travelling friends would survive either." Spyro and Contrinus looked at him. "No...just shut up." said Contrinus, grabbing Draconus's face and slamming his head into the wall, knocking him clean out.

As soon as Draconus was out, Contrinus shimmered down to her regular appearance. "That was pretty impressive," said Spyro, "I didn't know you could do that." "Well, actually, I didn't either," said Contrinus. Negamorph nodded. "Nice work, Contrinus...he was pissing me off." he said. "Erm...Negamorph? We're over here." said Spyro from behind Negamorph.

"Oh, right," said Negamorph, "You think you could do something about my eyes?" "I think Chip needs healing more than you do," said Spyro.

--

Back in Matt's brain, the gang had managed to hide in the deeper part of Matt's mind....where Draconus should have been sealed. The area was run down, the lighting all smashed, circuitry exposed or covered in dirt. Most clear were the torn apart security bulkheads that were meant to signify the mental blocks. Naturally they were all torn to shreds.

"No wonder he doesn't like it in here," said Chloe, "and yet I can't think of a better cage for him. Except maybe at the bottom of an abyss." Matt sighed. "I keep my worst memories here." he said gloomily.

"I know how that feels," said Cynder. Suddenly a angry roar sounded from behind them. "I think Draconus is in pain." said Flame. "Good." said Chloe and Matt at the same time. "But, if he's hurt, won't that just make him angrier?" asked Ember. A shadow came into view at the end of the corridor...it definitely wasn't human shaped anymore and was a lot larger.

"I'm gonna take that as a big yes," said Flame. "Right...since it seems you're not going to do the decent thing and give up...so...I'm just gonna kill you all...messy...but simpler in the long run." said Draconus, his voice deeper and a hell of a lot more creepy.

"Uh, wait, if you kill Matt, won't that that have some huge effect that would wipe you out too?" asked Chloe. "Nope...this body only needs one person." said Draconus and by emphasis, sent a blast of dark flame down the corridor, causing the group to scatter.

"Ok Matt, if you have any sort of 'home advantage' you can use, use it now," said Chloe. "Like what?" yelled Matt angrily. Draconus actually ripped a piece off one of the broken emergency bulkheads and threw it at Matt. "You could have had all this power...you're a weak fool...and thas why I'm going to be in charge." he snarled.

"Power isn't everything you know," said Ember and she blew a big cloud of soot into Draconus's face. Draconus coughed before rounding on Ember. "Oh well...you volunteered to die first." he said and sent a plasma orb at her.

Before it could hit her, Flame dove in front of her and blasted at the plasma orb with his fire breath. The orb still went through and hit Flame, but it's speed and power had been decreased. Nevertheless, it was hardly painless.

Ember ran over to where Flame had landed as Draconus laughed manically. "Oh well...not what I aimed at...but lets pick up the spare." he said, readying a second one to shoot at Ember. He was buffeted backwards when Cynder performed a strong Shadow Strike. Given the darkness of the cell, her power was given an extra boost.

"Gah...you little worm." he hissed, getting back up and lunging at her. Flame coughed a bit and looked up at Ember. "Are you ok?" he said to her. "I am, thanks to you," she said, "You didn't have to take that hit for me." "Hey, that's what friends are for," said Flame. Draconus however was fighting with Cynder. Her small size however was making Draconus's life difficult. "Stay still, you idiot."

"You're not the boss of me," said Cynder as she gave him a poisonous slash with her claws. Chloe however was shaking Matt a bit. "COME ON...You must have something here that can stop him." she yelled at him.

"I told you, Draconus is in charge here..." started Matt but he was cut off when Chloe slapped his face. "That's a load of baloney and you know it," she snapped, "This mind and body doesn't belong to Draconus, it belongs to you. You were the one born with it. Draconus is just acting like a parasite. The only reason he's controlling it now is because you're not really trying to stop him. You're letting him walk all over you!"

Matt glared, eyes glowing in a similar way to Draconus. At the same time, Draconus winced in pain. "Wha?" he said and Cynder hit him with another blast. Matt turned on Chloe. "What did you say?" "I'm saying that if you actually put real effort into it and stopped quitting, you'd have been able to stop him taking over in the first place," snapped Chloe, noting Matt's growing anger and hoping that would give him a boost. "I could take him out easy!" growled Matt, his hands sharpening into draconic claws.

Meanwhile, Cynder and Draconus were still fighting each other. Cynder sent out several wind blasts, but Draconus knocked them away with a snap of his wings. "You're a fool to challenge me here," said Draconus, "Here, I am all-powerful."

Suddenly a second draconic shape smashed into him, both of them rolling across the floor till Draconus threw the newcomer off. "Matt...you grew a spine." he said, recognising the almost double dragon who just growled.

"You've forgotten, I'm all-powerful here too," growled Matt. "Oh really?" said Draconus, "I think we both know that I am the superior personality. I'm smarter, stronger willed, and a lot more mature than you are." "Yeah...but I'm more hands on." said Matt, sending a plasma blast into Draconus's face.

Draconus was hardly hurt. "You'll never be able to defeat me," he said, "No matter how thoroughly you'd try to 'destroy' me, I'll always linger in the dark corners of your mind, waiting to spring out." "Yeah...I know...everyone has to put up with a dark side...even jerks like you." snarled Matt before lunging at Draconus and landing a slash to his chest.

Draconus laughed and said, "You don't get it, do you? I don't have a dark side, because I AM a dark side. I'm YOUR dark side. I've been building up all these years. All those attempts that others have made to brainwash you over the years just made me stronger. I've collect various aspects from your many journeys. You even gave me my name the last time we were here."

"Yeah...personally I think the name could use work." sneered Matt, dodging a claw swipe. "I think it works well," said Draconus, "It's certainly a lot more menacing-sounding than 'Angela Silvia'." Chloe glared at this. "Little jerk." she muttered.

"You'll never stop me," said Draconus, "I'm as mighty as the legendary wolf Fenrir. When I crush you all, I'm going to unleash Ragnarok on this pathetic world and any other world whose inhabitants would get in my way." "Hey...Now I know whats missing from your look..." he said and used plasma control to force Draconus back into one of the cells. "What the hell is this?" said Draconus, looking around at the chains and metal on the walls...An old memory of the Juggernaut fortress.

"Oh, just a memory from Nifspell," said Matt. Suddenly, the chains on the wall lifted up and started wrapping around Draconus. "You think mere metal links will hold me?" said Draconus as he tried to break free. To his great surprise, he found that he couldn't. "Well, it worked pretty well for me," said Matt, "And since we pretty much have the same physical form, it should work for you."

Draconus suddenly looked worried as Matt turned back to human, smiling coldly. "Wait...wait...what are you doing?" he said. "Leaving you here...you left me in my own personal hell...now you can enjoy your own." said Matt. "You can't do this to me!" roared Draconus. "My head, my rules," said Matt, "And don't think you'll be let out early on good behaviour. And no one will be sending you any cakes with files in them."

Draconus snarled and strained on the chains. "I'll rip your mind apart when I get out." he hissed. Matt smirked. "Yeah...best of luck with that...have a painful time." said Matt and slammed the door, which faded to a wall.

--

"Now can we go?" asked Chloe. "I think so," said Matt, "Try waking up now." Chloe tried and immediately she disappeared from Matt's mind. Cynder, Ember, and Flame quickly vanished after her. "Well, I think I'll go join them," said Matt as he tried to wake up.

--

Matt woke up to a world of personal agony. "Ok...what the hell happened to me? I feel like somebody hit me with a mallet then shoved me in a microwave." he said. "Yeah, I think I did go a little overboard in keeping Draconus down," said Contrinus, looking particularly guilty.

Matt winced and noticed he was in dragon form and noticed he'd more or less had the tar beaten out and then some. With some effort he managed to resume human form just as some groans signified the others were waking. "Thank you for visiting my brain...we hope you make an appointment next time." said Matt.

"Glad to hear you're back in control, Lynch," said NegaMorph. "I'm happy to be back-" Matt's voice trailed off when he saw that NegaMorph had black blindfolds over all his eyes and had a white cane in one of his left hands.

"Ok...what happened? I know Draconus didn't do that otherwise he'd have done it months ago during other fights." said Matt. "It wasn't him," said NegaMorph, "It was Miss Solar Flare over there."

Matt followed Negamorph's pointing finger. "The dragon statue did it to you?" he said. "DAMMIT...I MEANT CONTRINUS!" snapped Negamorph. Apparently Matt's position as a professional pain in the butt had been filled in while he'd been put out of action.

Matt gave Contrinus an incredulous look. "Well, it turns that when I get really, really angry, I got into this star-based firebird mode. That's how you got those burns on your back," said Contrinus, looking embarrassed. Matt winced, feeling the cauterized claw cuts on his back. "Nasty..." he said.

Meanwhile, Spyro had noticed Ember and Flame walking off together. It didn't look like they were plotting anything together. In fact, they looked like they were going 'out' out. Matt was helped up by Chloe and he saw Chip. "Oh damn." he muttered, seeing the damage.

"Don't worry," said Chip, "It was mostly the exo-structure that was hurt. I'm gonna need a new one now. But I think I need to put my organs in a regeneration tank." "I did this." muttered Matt and walked out before anyone could stop him.

Spyro walked out after Matt. "Matt, it really wasn't your fault. It was Draconus. You don't have to blame myself. If I let myself feel down about the times I lost control, I'd never feel good." "Yeah...but you never hurt anyone...I almost fried chip...and I nearly killed my own sister." said Matt, dully.

"I could have done much worse," said Spyro, "Consider the fact that you have friends who would directly face your inner demons a big blessing." "That's not the point...they shouldn't have to...what if Devina does the same thing again? Next time we may not be so lucky." said Matt.

"Well, isn't that what Mr. Black wanted you to come here to deal with?" asked Spyro. "Who knows? That business suited git never gives me a straight answer...the only thing close was when we were on the white isle...he said I was 'early'." said Matt.

"Well, is it time for you now?" asked Spyro. "Oh, I don't know," said Matt sarcastically, "I guess I could just dial him up and ask, 'Hello, I've got an appointment for lessons on taming my inner psychopath. Is it at four o'clock or five?'"

Spyro laughed a bit. "Heh. I'm sure you'll find out." he said. Matt shrugged. "Well...least we found some survivors so something good came out of this fiasco." he said.

--

Something else was coming out of the fiasco too but the verdict on if it was good or not wasn't out yet. Techo had been using his wrist-comp to decode the information crystal they had seized at the archive and now it was beeping.

**So Draconus's little joy ride is at an end, some dragons are rescued and the archive crystal has been partially decoded…but whats in it?**

**Please R&R!**


	8. The Staff of Leaping

**Spyro, Cynder, and all other Spyro related characters are property of Sierra studios. **

**Draco, Contrinus, Chip and Cydra are property of my co-author, Cydra. **

**Matt, his merc team, the NSC and related tech, the ancients/atlanteans and malefors dragon generals are mine.**

**CPS Chronicles: Forgotten Blood**

**Chapter 7: The Staff of Leaping**

When Techo announced that he managed to crack the crystal's code, everyone came to see what he managed to get out of it. Techo was practically glowing with smugness when the last few arrived. He'd finally got one up on Chip from his perspective.

"Ok, so what's in it?" said Matt, looking at the crystal.

Techo simply smirked. "From what I managed to see, some kind of file about something called 'Chakra' devices," he said before looking serious. He pressed a seemingly seamless area of crystal, making a hologram of three objects appear. The first was a staff of some kind. The other two was a scimitar-type sword and some kind of crown.

"Ok, why are these things of great significance?" asked Chloe.

"Well, the files refer to them being used as some kind of punishment technology. Take this," he said, pointing at the staff. "This thing, according to its file, can remove a targets consciousness and put it in a rock…or another person."

Matt, Spyro and Cynder seemed the most worried. "A soul gem maker." muttered Spyro.

"I wondered how they managed to pack those guys into those jewels," said Matt, "And here I thought it was some super-complicated magical ritual."

"Well, it gets better. The sword's apparently used to destroy souls instead," said Techo, grimly.

"And let me guess, the crown's pretty much like Checkers, right?" said Chloe.

"No. It was some kind of failsafe, nothing apart from that. After that, there were notes about urgent relocation of the devices," said Techo.

Wilson then spoke. "You know...makes sense now why Malefor wanted this info too."

"I certainly can imagine him wanting to use the sword on us," said NegaMorph, "Either that or trapping us with that staff."

"Not that. I doubt he's the sort who'll wanna stick around in that dead body of his. Not when there's a perfect replacement running around," said Wilson.

"Uh-uh, no way," said Matt, "I ain't leasing this body out to anyone, let alone him."

"I was talking about Spyro," said Wilson.

There was an awful silence as everyone had this sink in. "So we find them, smash them to pieces, no more problem. Where are they?" said Chloe.

"Well, I'm not exactly sure," said Techo, "I'm still trying to figure that part out. But I think I have one located." He turned to press another section but this time just a distorted image appeared. "Oh, smeg," he said, rubbing as the crystal for a few minutes, "Data's gone...guess it must have been damaged at the archive."

"Well that's just great," said Matt, "So now how are we supposed to find them?

"I dunno, there's a mention that a guy on the dragon council of the time wanted a copy of it, Chronicler or something," said Techo.

"Oh, we know him," said Spyro, "He's been a big help to us before. I'm sure he wouldn't mind us looking at his copy."

"Wait, it can't be the original...oh," said Techo, stopping when he saw everyone had gone. What he'd been going to say was how the addition had been 1000 years ago.

--

The flight to the White Isle was longer than that to the Archive, so the dragons often took short flights outside the Nighthawk to stretch their wings. Finally the island came into view on the horizon. "Just how I remember," muttered Matt. Only Matt, Spyro, Cynder and Chloe went onto the island.

"So...what's this guy like?" said Chloe.

"Very wise, but he kinda tends to drift off-subject until you remind him of what we're talking about," said Matt.

Surprisingly, the usual killer statues were not present and the road to the main building was clear. Spyro paused and said, "Something's not quite the same. And it's not just the lack of obstacles. Something's changed since we were last here.

"So we didn't get any exercise, he's the same guy," said Matt.

"Actually, that's not so accurate anymore," said a familiar voice. There was a flash of blue light and a sky blue dragon wearing the grey robes of the Chronicler stood before them. However, it wasn't the same Chronicler they had met before.

Matt looked confused, but Spyro was quick to recognize the Chronicler. "Ignitus?"he said happily.

"Yes, Spyro," said Ignitus, "though I'm not quite the same dragon as before."

Matt bit down a temped response about how he was supposed to be dead and said weakly, "You look well."

"Well, considering how I might have otherwise ended up a pile of ashes, I think I've done pretty well," said Ignitus, "I know my passing saddened you, but my time as the Fire Gaurdian has ended. It's a new age and a new Chronicler must document it."

Matt nodded. "Erm...ok...we need to find something, the location of the Chakra devices."

"I had a feeling you would come to me to ask about them," said Ignitus, "Before I became the Chronicler, I have heard fleeting tales about the Chakra Devices. But now I know their entire story."

"We got a bad feeling that Malefor wants to use them," said Matt.

"Yes, I believe it is his intent to collect and then use the Chakra Devices," said Ignitus, "That must not be allowed to happen."

"We need to find the copy of the locations your...predecessor got," said Matt.

"Very well," said Ignitus, "If you'll just follow me to the library."

While the others walked on, Ignitus pulled Spyro to the side for a few minutes. "Spyro, I'm sorry my seeming-death caused you so much grief."

"I just wish you could have come with us," said Spyro, "I would have gone back for you."

"Spyro, you cannot sacrifice a piece of the future to bring back the past," said Ignitus, "You and Cynder were the future. I was fully willing to sacrifice myself to see you through. I always had been. But my new role allows me to see this world even more."

"I wish you could have told me," said Spyro.

"I would have, but I did not know where you were," said Ignitus, "But Spyro, I'd like to tell you now that I have felt more pride in anyone than you."

"Thanks Ignitus," said Spyro, "That's all I ever wanted to hear."

--

The library itself hadn't changed much since Matt had last been there. He knew that it had only been a few months for Avalar since he'd last been there but still...

Chloe looked around at the books on the walls. "This is each a dragons life?" she said.

"Some, yes," said Ignitus, "Other are noteable accounts throughout dragon history."

Matt looked at his and Chloe's books with interest. They were definitely thicker then the last time he'd seen them. Then Matt noticed something on a table. It looked a book cover, only it had not pictures in it. Paper, ink, and glue lay nearby, all ready to be used.

Matt wandered over to it and was about to look when he heard Ignitus make a polite but warning cough. "Maybe later," said Matt, walking away from it.

"I found it," said Chloe, pulling a scroll down from a high shelf.

"A scroll?" asked Matt, "I'd have thought it would be another crystal."

"Well, we Chroniclers prefer paper and ink rather than those crystals," said Ignitus, "Primitive in comparison, but books are easier to look through."

The scroll definitely contained the missing information except that it was in riddles. "Did you prefer mind games too instead of proper English?" said Matt in an annoyed voice.

_"The Staff of Leaping sleeps under the waves until the forgotten guardians a hero braves."_

Chloe looked at the riddle. "Ok...why in hell was that written instead if a 'staff is hidden here' and a large arrow on say...A MAP?!!!" she said

"It was meant to be a challenge to those who would steal the staff," said Ignitus.

"Ok then, then you must surely know where the staff is," said Cynder.

Matt turned to Ignitus. "Please tell us. I suck at riddles," he said.

"Actually, the staff isn't that far from here," said Ignitus, "It is somewhere off the shore on this island in a secret facility of some sort."

"Oh please tell me we don't have to meet another of those crazy A.I's," moaned Matt.

"Well, the scroll said 'forgotten guardians', plural," said Cynder, "Those ancient guys didn't make any places with two A.I's, right?"

"No, but their hybrid plan wasn't their first plan," said Ignitus.

Matt sighed. "Great, my day isn't complete without a horrific tentacled mutant ripping my face off."

"Wait a sec," said Spyro, "How are we even going to get to that facility? I don't think the Nighthawk can go underwater."

"Well, that just means the horrible murderous thing will have drowned," said Matt, now in a bad mood.

"Actually, the sea levels have changed over the years," said Ignitus, "It may be possible for you to access the facility."

"Well, that's something. So, which direction?" said Matt.

--

The trip to the lab was filled with more than a bit of apprehension. The last time Matt, Spyro and Cynder had run into one of the A.I's of the ancients it had nearly killed them. Now they were actively hunting down another.

"I just hope this one won't try to self-destruct on us," muttered Matt.

Suddenly one of the crew looked over from his sensor console. "Got a signal: 45 degrees to port, looks like a series of buildings," he said. The screen changed to show a series of buildings on pillars jutting out the water. Just behind them a white cloud of white spray showed where one of the world sections ended.

"Nice architecture," commented NegaMorph, "A little Jetsons-like, but interesting design. Got a really good location too."

Suddenly, the trooper at the comm screen fell back in shock, ripping his headphones off. A voice echoed over the ships intercom. "Welcome to Arkadia Laboratories. We're sorry but we are currently offline and not accepting visitors. Please alter your course."

"Screw what the computer says, we're landing. It's not like they have nuclear missiles they can shoot at us," said Chloe.

The computer's voice sounded again. "I detect that your ship has not altered your course. We appreciate your continued interest in our facility and hope you will accept the two model XII anti-matter attack javelins launched at your vessel. Your deaths will be recorded for future training purposes."

Several crewmembers gave Chloe annoyed glares. "Well, I did say they didn't have nuclear missiles."

"Well that's just dandy," said Matt, "How about you turn those two javelins into a sperm whale and a bowl of petunias now?"

The alert siren sounded as the screen changed to a rear view, showing two blue spearhead-shaped devices shot out a cloudbank and bore down on them. "Oh hell," said Matt, grabbing the controls and pulling to the left, making the ship roll to the left, the javelins almost scraping a layer of paint off the ship. They quickly turned and began to head for the ship again.

"Tell me someone's trained in avoiding seeker missiles," moaned Chip.

Matt pulled hard and the ship pulled hard again. Again the javelins missed by a hairs width. "Chip, they're machines, DO SOMETHING!" screamed Chloe.

"Well, it's kind of hard to hack into computers that you have to physically avoid..." started Chip but the collective glares made him change his tone, "But it can be done. But I think I'll need a wi-fi broadcaster to be able to hack into them."

It was then when one of the missiles hit the starboard engine, blowing half of it off and causing a huge explosion in engineering. "DAMMIT! KEEP THAT OTHER MISSILE OFF OR WE'RE DEAD MEAT!" yelled Techo as his team fought the fires that were caused and pulled injured out.

Meanwhile, Chip had plugged himself into the communications computer. He focused on the remaining missile's control box and tried to work on hacking into it. The missile surprised Chip in it had its own central A.I, even though it was very single minded. The damage to the Nighthawk however had crippled its speed and Chip could sense the missile's smugness in how it would make an easy kill. Seeing as straightforward hacking would take too long, simple trickery would have to do. Chip focused all his effort to alert the missile to a secondary party of intruders on a sea rock.

It didn't seem to be working at first but just as Chip was consigning himself to the great big recycle bin in the sky, the missile made a 45 degree turn and slammed into the ocean with a huge bang, the force shaking the ship. "Wow...well...nice one, Chip," said Matt, struggling to level out the ship.

"It wasn't really that easy," said Chip, "One of my brains is really sore now. Remind me to install a wi-fi link-up with my next exostructure upgrade."

"Granted," muttered Matt.

"Landing struts are toast, guess it's just us." said Chloe looking at the damage readout.

--

A short time later, Matt, Chloe, Spyro, Cynder, NegaMorph, and Contrinus had flown down to one of the buildings. The pillars beneath made movement apparently meant to make the buildings go underwater, but with the change of sea level, they only went down a couple of yards. The Nighthawk had managed to hover close enough to one of the buildings, allowing the group to get down to what had been meant as a landing pad. A rusted ship of some kind confirmed that. A blue dot set into the wall moved to follow them. "Access denied," chimed the A.I's voice. Matt just shrugged and he and NegaMorph blew the door into the facility.

"Ok, here's an important rule," said Matt, "If you see something that isn't your comrades, shoot them before they attack. Break that rule and you won't last long."

The inside of the building appeared to be some kind of storage facility. The area was behind a second set of door that were obviously tougher. What surprised them was that most of the containers were open and empty. One of them appeared to contain what looked like food stuffs.

"You know, for a place that hasn't been used for centuries, this place is in pretty good condition," said Chloe.

The far doors were torn open, probably fused open from a leak elsewhere.

Suddenly, both Spyro and Cynder stopped. "Someone's coming," said Spyro.

"More than one," confirmed Cynder. The group looked around in panic, looking for places to hide. Matt and Spyro ran into the open container and dived into the food containers while the others scattered for similar places. Three shadows appeared, laughing.

The built-up tension abruptly went flat like a deflated tire when the shadows were shown to belong to three small dragon-like creatures. They looked similar to splitters, only they had longer necks, their legs digigrade, and their arms were ridiculously long with webbing along the underside. From their size and stature, they had to be kids. The creatures were obviously capable of limited flight by the way they'd take off a few feet and fly around each other, gabbling in their own language. One of them landed barely a foot from where Cynder and NegaMorph had hidden before tearing a container open with ease and going inside, coming out with a bag full of the food stored in the container.

When the 'kids' had left with their snack, NegaMorph broke the silence and said, "Ok, was that anti-climatic or was it just me?"

"The evil monster union has really let standards slip," joked Matt.

"Uh, didn't they just tear open a metal container like it was a bag of potato chips?" asked Contrinus.

Matt nodded. "There is that," said Matt, gulping. The A.I appeared to be listening and it set off the alarm. "I hate A.I's," said Matt dully.

"Well, maybe they're friendly," said Chloe, "Those kids looked like they might have been."

The snarls and cries didn't sound very friendly. "Why do you tempt fate to hurt us?" said Matt. The argument was cut off as a slingshot rock hit him on the head.

--

When Matt came around, he found himself in a cage and several larger versions of the wyverns staring at him. "Why do I feel like this is a role reversal?" Matt asked himself. A groan from the next cage revealed Chloe, who judging from how she was in dragon form, she'd tried an alternative approach. More looking saw that Spyro and Cynder were in similar trouble. Only Contrinus and NegaMorph were not present. "Uh, we are capable of communicating with these guys, right?" asked Matt.

"Well, ask the ambassador over there," said Chloe sarcastically. Matt followed her point to see Contrinus, not in a cage and looking quite happy. "Contrinus...how...why...I don't care. Get us out," he said.

"Um, I'm trying," said Contrinus, "There's a bit of a language barrier I'm trying to get around. But apparently, they think I'm a messenger from 'The Invisible One'."

"Oh great, at least the last A.I only got in our way. This one's got delusions of grandeur," said Matt before pointing at Cynder and Spyro. "They'd better not be hurt. Tell them that. Give then an idea about how nasty my temper is."

Contrinus tried to convey the message through wing gestures. And apparently the response was, as told by Contrinus, "The Invisible One thinks you are a threat that desires to take the Staff of Leaping."

"If they mean the really dangerous weapon, then yes," said Matt.

Chloe gave Matt an annoyed glared and said, "Tell them that a great evil's coming here and it would be even much worse if the staff fell into his hands."

Matt looked aver as Spyro came round. "Urgh...those guys pack a punch," Spyro said before seeing Cynder. "CYNDER!" He yelled and tried to reach her.

"Spyro, I advise you try to maintain a non-threatening posture," said Chloe.

Matt looked at Contrinus again. "Try to explain how bad Anton is...ask him to back you up, he's only over there...WHAT THE HELL?!!!" he said, jumping as he focused on the last cell. It did indeed contain Anton, sporting a black eye and a smug expression. "Hotel needs work...eh?" he said smugly.

"Mute it, fledgling," growled Anton, "These two-legged wyrms just caught me by surprise, that's all."

"Aw...but now we have a visual aid for what a huge smeghead you and your boss are," said Matt happily.

"If these bars weren't keeping us apart, I'd rip those grinning lips off your face," snarled Anton.

"Can we save on the unachievable threats?" asked Chloe, "They're not doing anyone any good."

Matt sat back. "If Cynder is permanently bruised, we'll leave you in a soundproof room with Spyro," he said, happily.

Then a larger and tougher-looking wyvern approached Contrinus. He spoke to her in the wyvern's language. "Um, I think this guy's their chief," said Contrinus, "and I think he's really suspicious about you guys."

"Define 'suspicious'. Are we talking 'looking at us in a funny way' or 'lined up against the wall and shot'?" said Matt.

"My guess is that he thinks you are a danger to the nest," said Contrinus, "so I think it's the latter."

Anton groaned and said, "Can we get a translator who doesn't paraphrase?"

"So...how bad can a bunch of batmen do?" said Matt.

The chief slammed his tail against Matt's cage and said, "I've had enough of these strangers' insolence. If the Invisible One sees them as a threat, we must treat them like one."

"THEY SPEAK ENGLISH?!" yelled Chloe.

Contrinus looked embarrassed and said, "Well...they were betting on who would find out first. On a good note, I won." "You know, even if we were considered hostile intruders or not, I think that was pretty rude of them," said Spyro.

"Silence! Tomorrow we take you to the pit. Then we'll let the Invisible One decide," said the chief.

"Pit?" said Matt, worried.

--

The next day, the prisoners were taken to an extremely large tunnel that went directly down. It was about 500 feet to the other side and the bottom was swallowed up by darkness. It was quite obvious what it was, confirmed when the A.I said, "Please use caution in the coolant Vents." Matt was let go to look down it. "Ok...why?" he said.

"Uh, you know how birds teach their hatchlings to fly by kicking them out of the nest?" asked Contrinus, "Same principle, only those who are unable to fly don't come back up."

"Oh crap...err...do we get a demonstration?" said Matt.

Chloe however added a more important part. "More importantly, do they take these ropes off?" she said, holding up her hands to benefit.

The chief growled but Anton interjected. "It would be fair to give us a sporting chance," he said, "You can't truly expect us to fly with bound limbs. One would question your ability for compassion if you don't...Or leadership."

The wyvern chief nodded and pulled off Matt's first. "Oh...thanks. That was really so..." began Matt and was pushed off the edge by a young wyvern. Chloe was held back as Matt vanished. "Don't you dare go splat," she muttered.

As Matt was whooshing downwards, he thought to himself, 'Man, what I wouldn't give for a pair of wings right now. Wait a minute, I do have a pair of wings!' He promptly switched to dragon form and stopped in midair. "Huh, that was actually pretty easy," he said. The wyverns didn't seem as impressed as he'd have hoped when he managed to fly back up, made easy by the hot air coming from the bottom of the vent. "Ok...wasn't as hard as it seemed," he said, landing on the edge and turning back to human.

"Huh, this should be a piece of cake then," said Chloe calmly as she was tossed down into the pit.

Cynder came round in time to see Chloe pushed off. "CHLOE!" she yelled and tried to get up, wincing in pain. Her left wing had a small but painful tear in the membrane.

"Don't worry your shiny black head," said Anton, "It's just a simple flight test. The rip's not that big a deal either. You get plenty more of them when you grow up."

Matt got a look at it. "I dunno, you won't need to do much flapping, mostly thermals..," he said.

Spyro went next and then Anton said, "Hey, let her go next." Pointing at Cynder

"What? Are you out of your mind?" shouted Spyro.

"Fortunately, unlike your friend, I'm not," said Anton, "Besides, she's got a longer experience with flying than all of you. She should put on quite a show."

"Of how to go splat. You go next," said Matt angrily.

"Oh, no, no, ladies first," said Anton.

"Like you ever act like a gentleman," said Contrinus.

Anton smiled. "This place is old, makes you wonder why they never left, so many accidents can happen...hmm?" he said.

Suddenly, there was a dull explosion and the entire place shook. "What the smeg was that?" asked Chloe. A siren began to wail and the lighting changed to red. The wyverns all acted like the end was nigh as another explosion sounded, nearer. This seemed to sinche it as the wyverns were thrown into panic. They started shrieking and flying around in confusion. Anton took advantage of this and headed off as more explosions sounded from above.

Just then, Matt got a call on his communicator. "Chip to Matt," said Chip's voice, "We've got unwelcome company. They're hitting both us and the facility."

"Just lie low, we're trying some order around here," said Matt, grabbing a Wyvern. "Get a grip. It's just an alarm," he said

"The Call of Doom has sounded!" shouted the wyvern, "The end is upon us all!"

Matt sighed and pushed the Wyvern aside, accidently knocking it out on the wall. "Let's just find Anton before he finds that Staff," he said. The wyverns were too concerned about the incoming doom to notice so the gang was able to slip away without any notice. They headed off in the direction that Anton went.

"So...at least we're not running into droids," said Chloe. Sadly this was quickly re-evaluated when they turned the corner and onto an outer walkway. They immediately found themselves targeted by at least a dozen fighter droids. The droids were clustered around the outside of the building, perched like insectoids, their lasers charged and aiming. Several battle droids were also aiming at them. "Well…looks like not only do I get the staff and who it should be used on but I got several dozen Wyverns to work for Lord Malefor." Said Anton.

Matt gulped. "So...back to the cells then?"

"I think not," said a voice and several blasts of red energy started hitting the droids, damaging them a lot.

"Leg it!" yelled Matt and the group ducked down a corridor.

Unfortunately, Matt happened to choose a corridor that had a dead end. "Allow me," said NegaMorph as he emerged from the shadows. He let out a huge blast that opened up a whole new door.

As the gang ran through, Matt said to NegaMorph, "Where were you? We really could have used your help when we were in those cages."

"Making sure those Wyverns didn't grab me too," retorted NegaMorph, before adding, "...and doing your job."

"You've found the staff?" asked Matt, "Please tell me you were able to take it."

"No...we were going to take it?" said NegaMorph, teasing Matt.

"Cut the comedy, NegaMorph, I've had a long day," said Matt, "Tell me if we're able to take the staff or not."

"Yes and No..." said NegaMorph.

"Elaborate," ordered Chloe.

"Well, there's some kind of security there. These statues will blast anyone who tries to get through. I think there's an exception, but I'm not sure about it," said NegaMorph.

Matt remembered his last trip. "Wait, what was the beam like?"

NegaMorph sighed "You mean apart from painful?" "Well, there are these twin lasers that shoot out of the eyes, if that's what you're asking about."

Matt, Cynder and Spyro all nodded in knowing. "Matt managed to walk past that ok," said Spyro.

"And since the local parish is currently in panic mode, you're gonna have to lead us to it," said Chloe.

The group headed through the facility, following NegaMorph. The A.I sounded as they went "Alert...hostile forces have breached perimeter security...connection to Atlantis control is offline."

"You think we can reason with this thing?" asked Cynder.

"What do you think?" said Matt, dully.

NegaMorph sighed. "He didn't seem so bad," he said. He stepped forward and what looked like a small tesla coil popped out and hit NegaMorph with a high-voltage lightning bolt.

"NegaMorph, are you okay?" asked Chloe. "Mary had a little lamb, nimble lung, dimple lime..." sang NegaMorph in a confused voice before falling over.

Matt poked NegaMorph with his foot. "Meh...he'll be fine," he said before stepping over him

"Uh, maybe we should wait here," said Cynder, "If that's how the security system reacts to NegaMorph, I don't want to see what it would do to us."

Matt nodded. "You'll be fine," he said. The main A.I room was huge, dominated by the usual crystal CPU that the Ancients favoured. The difference was the quarterstaff in an energy field in front of the CPU. The roof was hidden in darkness.

"Um, pardon me, Invisible One?" called Chloe, "We're here to take this staff to a better place because there are a lot of villains after it."

"DNA scan required...only Alpha clearance authorized," said the A.I, the CPU pulsing with each word.

"So who would be considered 'Alpha clearance'?" asked Spyro.

Matt looked at it. "The archive A.I considered Shar-khan pretty high clearance. What's the worst that could happen?" he said.

"I could cause you to be flash-frozen in carbonite," said the A.I. Apparently the concept of rhetorical questions was not added in its programming.

Matt gulped as NegaMorph smirked, still a bit dazed. "Off we go," he said and pushed Matt forward. A light went over Matt and, for a second, it seemed like Matt was about to do a Han Solo impression when the A.I said, "Alpha DNA clearance detected..." Everyone started breathing again.

"So...may I have this staff now, please?" asked Matt, not wanting to push his luck too much.

"Please note that the Chakra soul transference prototype is highly sensitive equipment," said the A.I, shutting down the field.

Matt hesitatingly grasped the staff and held it up. He could feel its power vibrating under its surface. Just then, he heard a blaster warming up. "I'll take that now," said Anton, stepping out of the shadows.

"Oh hell," muttered Matt as several droids walked out behind Anton.

"Thanks for doing the hard work. I actually got this far when those stupid primitive experiments stopped me. I heard the Ancients tried to use Wyvern DNA like they did dragon DNA but I never realized they made them as clever as mud," he said.

Then Contrinus and Chloe notice a little movement up in the darkness above. "Uh, Anton, should you-" started Contrinus before Chloe shut her beak.

"Let's let him make his own mistakes," she whispered.

Anton carried on, oblivious. "Heh...can you believe they've been worshipping the A.I that was programmed to make sure they never leave this place? Damn, even your friend, PlasMorph, could have been able see through that...and that's saying something. he said before noticing he wasn't carrying his audience who were all looking up. "Excuse me...are we listening?" he said.

"Yes, we have been listening," growled a voice. Anton looked up to see several dozen angry yellow eyes glaring at him from the ceiling.

Anton looked up to see most of the Wyverns perched in the roof area. They didn't look very happy. "So, we're fools are we?" said a female Wyvern, almost spitting her anger.

"Well, I, uh, didn't mean you lot in particular..." said Anton, trying to think of some way to cover up.

"We heard it all," said another Wyvern.

"I think you're in trouble," said Matt, smugly.

Anton decided it wasn't worth his time to come up with a lie to explain what he said and ordered his drones, "OPEN FIRE!" The Wyverns all flew down at the droids and Anton, some falling from laser bolts but there was dozens more. Anton stepped back as his droids were literally ripped apart. A wyvern landed in front of him and hissed.

"I don't have time for this," said Anton and he sent a sonic blast that knocked the wyvern aside and made it hit the wall in such a way that its neck bent in an irrecoverable way. "I'll take that walking stick now," he said as he threw another sonic boom at Matt. Matt jumped to dodge it but the blast knocked the staff out his hands, sending it skittering across the floor. Anton and Matt looked at each other and ran for the staff, ducking and weaving through the melee, grabbing for the staff.

Spyro spotted Anton and jumped on top of him. "You're not getting that staff," he said.

Anton smirked. "Idiot...see ya," he said and sent a sonic blast into Spyro's chest, sending him flying into a wall. Sadly, this gave Chloe a clean shot. Anton managed to dodge the lightning bolt she threw at him and sent another sonic boom into her before spinning the staff and aiming at Spyro. "Might as well deliver Malefor's body while I'm at it."

"Not gonna happen," said NegaMorph as he slashed at Anton with his Lockblade. Anton blocked the attack but, in his haste, forgot he was blocking said attack with his precious cargo. This really came back to haunt him with the Lockblade hit one of the staff's crystals and broke it.

The lights on the staff flickered and died. "You...you little mutant!" said Anton.

"Ah, looks like your boss isn't getting that facelift any time soon," said NegaMorph.

"You're the one to talk about needed facelifts," said Anton as he blasted NegaMorph into a wall, "Do you have any idea how long it's going to take me to find a power crystal to replace this?" He looked around to see the Wyverns and the others surrounding him. "So, this is how it ends? Oh well, might as well bring down the house instead," he said, pressing a button on his wristcomp.

Suddenly, the ground started to shake. Then Chip's voice came through the comlink. "Guys," he said, "Something just blew the facility's support struts. You better get out of there if you don't want to get crushed or drowned."

Anton smirked as the shaking caused the Wyverns to panic again, walking for the door. "No time to stop me and get your little mongrel mutant pals out too," he said, smirking wider under the group glares.

"Guys, that staff's useless for who knows how long," said NegaMorph, "The Wyverns are more important. We have to free them from this place."

Matt looked at NegaMorph as Anton said, "The blob has a heart. You're going soft, General," before leaving.

"Uh, I hate to break it to you," said Chloe, "But that A.I's specifically programmed to never let these guys leave. I'm pretty sure a collapsing facility won't change its mind." Matt turned and glared at the CPU before blasting it. "Of course, that'll help," said Chloe.

Of course, the Wyverns didn't think the same thing. "He has destroyed the host of the Invisible One!" yelled the chief, "He has ruined our one chance for survival!"

"Erm, you can fly, you thick skulled, bat-winged moronic tribal IDIOTS!!!" yelled Matt, finally losing it. There was a small silence while everyone processed this and Matt was slowly edged away from.

"Listen to me!" called NegaMorph, "The Invisible One wasn't your god, he was your jailor. If you had listened to him, he would have let you sink down with this facility. Now's the time to stop thinking about tradition and listen to reason. You all must leave this place now!"

There must have been some kind of backup for the A.I as a calm level voice said, "Structural failure in all areas. Evacuate immediately."

"The Invisible One has given his final command!" shouted the chief, "We must leave this place!"

The group watched in shock as the Wyverns flew out through various pipes and other sections. "Not exactly how I planned to get them out, but it works," said Matt.

"Now how about we getting out?" said Chloe as the ground started to crack.

The group ran for it as fast as they could, arriving on the outside in time to see the Wyverns circling overhead and see one of the buildings crumple into the sea. The group quickly, in the case of Matt and Chloe, transformed, spread their wings and took off. "Well, we may have lost the staff, but at least the Wyverns are all free," said NegaMorph.

Matt turned in the air to see the last part of the facility fall over the edge of the land section. "The NSC are gonna kick our asses for this," he muttered.

--

The gang headed back to White Isle, seeing as how Anton's group was long gone. When they got there, they were surprised to see the Wyverns all lined up on the cliffs, like a huge flock of seagulls.

Matt landed first and turned back to human. "Ok, what the hell are these guys doing here?" he said, looking around and jumped as Ignitus said behind him.

"I invited them," said Ignitus.

"DON'T DO THAT!" screamed Matt.

"Sorry," said Ignitus, "I suppose I must refrain from doing that. The Wyvern are not used to this world. Their kind have never seen anything outside the facility they've been kept in. They will require plenty of caves to live in until they're ready to see the rest of the world. Fortunately, there are plenty of caves on this isle."

Matt sighed. "Don't worry, it seems to be a growing tradition to give me a heart attack," he said, gloomily.

Chloe landed next to NegaMorph. "Ok...why?" she said. NegaMorph looked over in mock confusion. "I said why," repeated Chloe.

"The Wyverns are an entire race of forsaken genetic experiments," said NegaMorph, "Their creators abandoned them when the Wyvern didn't serve their wishes. Now they have to carve out a new place for themselves in society. Just like me."

Chloe nodded. "I get it, Matt'll be impressed," she said.

"Yeah," said NegaMorph, "but if Matt rubs in how soft I'm going, I'll throw him into an industrial grinder."

Chloe smirked. "Oh Maaaaatt," she said.

--

Meanwhile, Anton was kneeling in front of Malefor with the staff held out before him. A rather demeaning pose, particularly with the generals snickering at him, but it seemed to win Malefor's favor. Malefor was ignoring his Generals' attitude. "You did well, Anton. You brought the most important Chakra artifact," he said.

"I swore I would bring it to you," said Anton.

Malefor took the staff and said, "You have proven yourself well. Perhaps it was a good idea to keep you around."

Anton turned to smirk at the Generals not noticing Malefor's expression change as he turned the staff to see the cracked power crystal. "See? I can do as good as you...what are you grinning at?" said Anton, his grin vanishing as the generals broke into grins. He turned to see Malefor angrily glaring at the busted crystal. "Uh, I did say I would bring it back, I didn't say it would be intact," he said, "I can explain about that..."

He never got to explain. Tuatara was plugged into a charger when Anton shot out the door, blasted clean out. "Bad day?" he said.

Anton groaned gently, "Is Matt...giving…smartass…lessons?"

**So the first Chakra device has been found...at least the good guys broke it before Anton stole it.**

**Lease R&R!**


	9. Crimson Darkness pt 1

**Spyro, Cynder, and all other Spyro related characters are property of Sierra studios. **

**Draco, Contrinus, Chip and Cydra are property of my co-author, Cydra. **

**Matt, his merc team, the NSC and related tech, the ancients/atlanteans and malefors dragon generals are mine.**

**CPS Chronicles: Forgotten Blood**

**Chapter 8: ****Crimson Darkness pt 1**

Few things worse than being betrayed. If it was someone you knew well and thought you could depend on, that makes it worse. But when it turns out that they were going to betray you from the start, that cuts deeply.

The best example of such a betrayal could be found all those years ago...the Atlanteans had barely been on Avalar a year...no idea that the events of this year would be the start of t so much pain for both their world and Avalar...

**Avalar year 1854, Drazon plains.**

Fireballs and laser blasts blazed through the air as the village below the lightshow was threatened to be torched to the ground. None of the resident dragons were familiar with their allies' unusual weapons and even less familiar with fighting their opponent as a true enemy.

The strange creatures, nicknamed the rock spawn by the allied attackers were attacking anyone in sight, hacking them or blasting them with dark energy arrows. The allies however were respondinhg with bots the size of ogres firing plasma bolts and missiles. Hover gunships flew overhead, showering clusters with energy machineguns called Riot pulse guns while fighters and dark wyverns fought.

For Commander Atlas of the Atlantean special military, this battle was a tactical nightmare. In his opinion the best place for urban warfare was out in the country where the buildings and civilians didn't get in the way.

"Couldn't this guy have picked a better place to fight?" he said to himself. "This is probably the reason he chose to fight here in the first place," said one of his lieutenants. "We got reports from the frontline...this guys tearing our bots to pieces. We've thrown everything except strategic missiles..." said a officer on Atlas's ACU's comm.

Suddenly, there was a great flash followed by a 'boom' in the distance. "Scratch that last remark," said the officer. Another commander in the field seemed happy. "That got his ass...oh shi..." he said before being cut off. "Target is still active...whats it take to stop this guy?" Just then, a purple streak was seen flying towards where the explosion had went off. "What the-? What's that kid doing there?" shouted Atlas. Atlas swore. "Now Malefor decides to get off his butt...about time." he said angrily.

When the purple steak landed, it revealed itself to be a purple dragon. He looked around and noticed a large robot having its upper body ripped to pieces by a large red dragon that had its tail curled around a staff with a red crystal at its top. The area they were in was littered with the wrecked remains of Atlantean bots. The red dragon turned to look at the newcomer. "Ah...I thought you'd come eventually." he said.

"I can't believe you would betray us," said Malefor, "It's bad enough you turned against the other elders, but deliberately bringing the battle to this place?" "They let these weak humans into our world...impressed by their feeble 'technology'. We're dragons...we're their superiors...there's even talk of our people going to their world." said the Red dragon.

"And what gave you the right to attack them when they've done nothing to us?" demanded Malefor. "What gives the right to come here?" said the red dragon in response bitterly. He suddenly turned to see dust on the horizon...a new wave heading for them. "They're worse then cockroaches." hissed the red dragon.

"Nevertheless, you had no right, no reason to attack other dragons," said Malefor. "Malefor...dear Malefor...you were so ready to learn from me a few days ago...I taught you so much...my finest spells...my best fighting skills...how to control your element breaths." said the red dragon, grinning evilly.

"Perhaps you shouldn't have," said Malefor, trying to cover his insecurity, "I have several types of breaths to fight you with, you can only breath fire." "Oh please...I did take advantage of these fool humans...do you like my staff?" said the red dragon, levelling his staff at them, the crystals glowing before spewing a red beam at Malefor.

Malefor dived out of the way just in time. Good thing too, as the blast left a deep crater. "Not bad," admitted Malefor, "But that staff's hardly a magic wand." The red dragon sneered. "This world doesn't deserve to live. You could have survived it if you'd taken my side." he said, aiming another blast that knocked Malefor down.

"There are no equals on your side, Red," said Malefor as he got back up, "Only slaves and servants." "Well...I won't live forever...and every leader needs a general." said Red. "I will not bow to you, Red," growled Malefor and he opened his mouth. He was originally intending on shooting out some ice, but a blast of darkness came out instead.

Red was sent flying back a good twenty feet to land in a heap. "Urgh...using dark fire...thats not like you, Malefor." he winced. "Perhaps you only thought you knew me," said Malefor, "The same way I thought I knew you." He shot another dark fire blast at Red.

By now the new Atlantean forces were in range. Commander Atlas was leading them and watched as Malefor kicked the hell out of Red. "Damn...he's got some moves." he said, impressed. "Ok, kid...we got him...you can stop now..." he said.

"I won't stop until I make sure he won't try any more of his tricks," growled Malefor. Atlas moved his bot forward and was surprised when the usual 20 foot mech ACU didn't make him back off. He finally had to put a round in the floor, leaving a small crater. "The council have something special planned..." he said over the ACU's intercom.

"I doubt they have anything that's good enough to punish him," said Malefor. "Oh, you'll be surprised." said Atlas, before aiming his ACU's blaster in Red's face. "..but if he was to try anything on the way there..."

--

Some time later, Red was taken out to a cave on a lonely plateau far away from any villages. The other Dragon Elders were there along with a platoon of Atlantean soldiers and Malefor. Malefor had been forced to watch as the Atlantis ambassadors had claimed they had the best way to seal the rogue eldar away. It had made him furious inside how the humans had taken control of the situation and the eldars had rolled over and taken it.

"This won't get rid of me forever, you know," said Red, "I will return. Maybe not in your lifetimes, maybe not for a thousand years, but I will be back." "No one would be so foolish as to release you," said one of the Dragon Elders, "Let alone know how to do so."

One of the humans pressed a crystal into a column in front of Red, making it light up. At the same time the air shimmered and Red froze in place. 'Such a shoddy form of imprisonment,' thought Malefor, 'If it were up to me, he'd be given a much greater form.'

--

**Present day**

**Avalar**

The plateau had been abandoned for many, many years now. No animals went anywhere near it. Even the birds tried to avoid flying over it. However, one being chose to ignore the silent warnings and approached the bottom of the plateau. The being was obscured by her magenta-colored cloak, but her long ears dangled by a hole made at the base of her hood.

Hundreds of burnt out hunks of metal could be seen poking out the ground as the being walked through the wasteland. The beings destination appeared to be a cave, from which a faint glow emitted.

"Well, here goes nothing," she muttered as she held out her hands, which had white fur on the palms. They glowed with pink energy which flickered forward towards the cave. The target of the energy was a small column that flickered before spitting out a shower of sparks. The air immediately stopped shimmering.

The sorceress crumpled onto her knees. "Whoa," she said, "That took a lot out of me." There was the sound of yawning and the sorceress looked up to see a large red dragon coming out of the cave, his tail wrapped around a staff. The dragon groaned, blinking in the sun before focusing on the sorceress. "Who are you?" the dragon said.

The sorceress lowered her hood, revealing she had a rabbit-like head with cream fur, blonde hair, and a magenta ribbon tying her ears back. "My name is Bianca," she said, "I am a sorceress who wishes to learn how to improve her magic." "And why, my dear, have you seeked me out?" said the dragon.

"The stories say that you were one of the greatest magicians who ever walked on Avalar," said Bianca, "Surely a master like you can show a humble apprentice how to control her magic." The dragon seemed a bit shocked before saying "I'm humbled...I will teach you all I know."

"Thank you, Master Red," said Bianca, genuflecting. Red however was thinking, 'How lucky can I be? A naive little girl releasing me to show her some magic tricks? The stars must be alligned in my favor.'

--

**Meanwhile, at Banshee base...**

Anton was not having a good day. The generals and Malefor had insisted on the base being redecorated. This seemed to involve almost all the above ground facilities being demolished. Malefor however had seemed...worried about something for the last few days.

"Lord Malefor, you have been deep in thought for several days," said Devina, "Does something trouble you?" "I have a feeling...something is loose in the world...I haven't felt something like this for years...not since..." said Malefor, deep in thought.

Then he turned to Devina and said, "Devina, I want you and the other generals to check out this location. Report to me if you see anything suspicious." "What? What could possible challenge us?" said Devina, confused.

"I didn't ask for your thoughts on the matter," snapped Malefor, "Just do as you're told and don't question me." Devina jumped back in shock before running out. "I never thought you'd return, Red." muttered Malefor.

Some time later, the five generals were flying out to the location Malefor had indicated. "I don't get it," said Shard, "What could be out here in the boondocks to unnerve Malefor?" Raptor suddenly looked ahead. "There...a dragon." he said, pointing to a figure below them.

Avarona looked down. "That old flame-spurter? Why would Malefor be nervous about this guy?" "Never mind that. If the great Malefor is threatened by him, HE MUST DIE!" yelled Raptor, going into a dive.

Red looked up to see the four dragons coming at him. "Hmm, this should be interesting," he said, "Apprentice, prepare for your first lesson about offensive magic." With that, Red looked up at the approaching Raptor and muttered a few words, sending a dark fireball shooting at Raptor.

Raptor saw the fireball coming and barrel-rolled out of the way. "You'll have to do better than that to defeat the forces of-" Raptor's prattling was cut off when the fireball changed directions and hit him in the back. Red smirked at Bianca. "Everyone forgets that a fireball spell can alter course." he said, before Devina almost scored a hit. "Hmm...I'm out of practise." muttered Red, amused.

"This old timer must be getting senile, think he can take all four of us," said Devina. Her statement was disproved when she landed in front of Red and was tail whipped then hit on the head by Reds staff.

"That cane's not going to help you, old wyrm," said Shard as he fired off earth balls to slam into Red. Red dodged the blasts and leveled his staff in Shards face. "A cane? I'm insulted." he said and fired a blast into Shard.

Shard was knocked backwards, but still able to fight. "Bah, it's just one of those humans' high tech toys. Nothing we can't overcome," he said. "Fine..." said Red and blasted Shard in the face with a dark energy blast, sending him into a boulder hard enough to shatter it.

"He won't be able to handle all of us at once," said Avarona, "Attack at the same time!" Red laughed and waited until they were all heading for him before sending a blast in all directions, knocking the generals down.

"I have yet to be impressed, old wyrm," said Raptor as he got back up. Red sighed. "Miss Bianca? I believe its time to show me what you can do." Bianca nodded and waved her hands. Pink lightning started dancing around before it went into the ground. "Is that it?" said Devina, "A little lightshow?" Suddenly, roots came out of the ground and ensrared the generals' legs.

Red walked up to Devina. "Now then...on any other day, I'd deal with you permenently...but I'm still getting my strength back." However, the roots weren't so secure on Raptor and he managed to squirm loose. "Your power still pales to that of the Dark Master," he said.

Red turned in time for two yellow blasts to land in front of Raptor and knock him down. A ship flew overhead, firing more blasts while several dragons landed in front of the Generals. "Hi, loony." said one of them cheekily to Avarona."

"This does not concern you, Lynch," growled Avarona. "I know..I just wanted you to stay still so Spyro n Cynder could blast you." said the dragon. Red looked up to see a black dragon and, to his personal shock, a purple dragon blast Avarona from behind, knocking her on her front.

The two young dragons started to blast at the generals, which they couldn't avoid because of their ensnarement. Several other dragons were also helping and also, to Reds inner anger, humans were joining in. The generals quickly decided to flee and the newcomers cheered. The 'Matt' dragon turned to Red and Bianca.

To his great surprise, he transformed into a human. An electricity dragoness beside him also turned into a human. "You guys ok?" asked the one called Matt. Red was actually speechless but Bianca said. "Yes...you were just in time." she said cheerfully. The humans just stared. Matt pointed at Bianca. "Erm...You've got bunny...OW!" he began, but was cut off when the other human kicked him.

"I apologize about my brother," said the female, "He had a tendacy to forget to keep some of his thoughts inside his head." Bianca smiled. "Oh don't worry." she said. "I'm Bianca...This is...Red, are you ok?" she added, looking at Red who was still staring.

"So, the Shar-khan do exist," said Red, "I thought they were just a rumor." "Nah...we're real...we just have bad press." said the female. "I'm Lieutenent Chloe Lynch...my brothers officially the captain...but we share." Matt waved.

"And who are the rest of your companions?" asked Red as he eyed the others. Matt grinned. "The two fire dragons over there are Ember and Flame. The fire and ice dragons over there are Smoldron and Sonya and the wind dragon who looks like a lemons in his mouth is Xyphros." he said, hearing a 'hey!' from Xyphros.

"And these much be the legendary Spyro and Cynder," said Bianca as she looked at the two dragons in question. Matt nodded. "Yup...in the flesh." "Wait, I've heard you, Matt," said Bianca. Matt's chest was starting to swell with pride when Bianca said, "Weren't you the one who freed the generals from their soul gems?"

Matts expression could have blasted a hole in a steel vault. "Now wait a second..." he began before Chloe cut him off. "He's very sorry about it." Matt glared "LIKE HELL...I DIDN'T DO IT...OW!!!" "My apprentice and I are exceedingly grateful for your rescue," said Red, "Though I think we'll need to find a new place to practice."

The others had wandered over by now. Flame said "You could come back to Warfang...its pretty safe at the moment." Smoldron nodded "Yes...the humans have helped us repair the defence cannons." "Humans?" asked Red, a slight trace of disgust in his voice. Everyone else looked confused. "Whats wrong?" said Sonya.

"Well, I've just thought that the humans have all moved on," said Red, "They weren't particularly nice company." Matt shrugged. "The atlanteans were wiped out 1000 years ago." he said. "Well, I'm an old dragon," said Red, "I haven't kept up with the times that much."

He peered curiously at Spyro. Unfortunately, he could only detect a minimal amount of dark emotions in him. But then he sensed jealousy directed towards Spyro. He turned to look at the source and saw that it was the young fire dragon, Flame. 'Hmm...I wonder.' he thought.

--

Red looked down at Warfang, there was clearly constrction going and many of the buildings were new. There was also nearly 200 humans walking around, much to his disgust. "Things have certainly changed since I was gone," he said. Bianca, who was hitching a ride on Red's back looked down. "The last I heard about this place, it was nearly a ruin. Malefor almost destroyed it."

"Malefor, you say?" asked Red, his curiosity intrigued. "Yes...story goes he just went corrupted after some battle long ago." said Bianca in the tone of someone reciting a horror story. "He returned a couple of years ago. Spyro, Cynder and that human stopped him."

"Heh, I knew Malefor had it in him," muttered Red. Bianca looked down. "What?" she said. Red gulped. "Erm...I meant I knew, erm...Spyro had it in him." he said, desperately. "Oh, I see," said Bianca, "Where do you think would be a good place to work on my magic ?" "Of course...this will be perfect." said Red, landing in the courtyard.

--

Later, Red was walking around the city. "Hmm, it's not like in the old days," he muttered to himself. Then he heard a commotion. He looked around a corner to see Spyro and Flame sparring. Matt, Chloe, Ember and Cynder were watching and cheering them both on. The humans appeared to be egging both sides on.

"Huh, some things never change," muttered Red. He was about to join them in watching when he stumbled into something. "Hey! Watch where you're going!" shouted something. He looked around to look for the voice before slowly looking down and yelped in shock. He'd stepped in some kind of black goo that was talking to him.

"What sort of hideous demon is this?!" shouted Red. "Oh, sure, always presume it's a demon," said the goo as it took on an assymtrical form. Red looked down at the blob who said "Names Negamorph...just scream and get it over with." Red stared at him and said, "Hmm, how fascinating. Something tells me you're the only one of your kind."

"No...I gotta brother but luckily he isn't here. If he was half the city might have been destroyed by now." said Negamorph. "So, from where on Avalar are you from?" asked Red. "Nowhere," said NegaMorph, "I came with these guys." He pointed back at Matt and Chloe. Red looked at him in time to see Matt's gun accidently shoot him in his foot. "I can believe that." said Red slowly.

"Anyways, who you think's gonna come out on top? I've got a couple of gold coins on Spyro," said NegaMorph. Red looked at the two, sensing Flames desperation to get one up on Spyro to impress Ember. Sadly this meant he wasn't concentrating as Spyro dodged Flames charge before bashing him from behind.

"Flame shows potential," noted Red. "Yeah, but he's too hot-headed to ever bring that out," said NegaMorph. Matt held up a hand and said "Spyro is the winner." Flame sighed and got up. "Of course, Spyro always wins," grumbled Flame as he slunked off.

Red smirked. "Yes...he has alot of potential." he said and walked off after Flame. he stopped when he saw Flame talking to Ember. "Oh, don't be sad," said Ember, "You'll aways be #1 in my book." Red snorted angrily, feeling the jealousy vanish. "Hmm...she'll be a problem." he muttered.

--

Meanwhile, Bianca was reading in the library. Her attention shifted when Cyril came into the room. "So this is the young sorceress I've been hearing about," he said. Bianca put down the book she was reading and looked over. "Oh...you mean me?" she said, cheerfully.

"Yes, I did," said Cyril, "You look somewhat young for studying magic, but it's never too early to start." "I always wanted to study magic. I read all about the first eldars...the sort of things they could do. I always wanted to be able to do that." Said Bianca.

"Well, you have to understand that they were dragons," said Cyril, "Being a rabbit will mean that your magic will be notably different. Of course, exactly how is hard to determine since you still seem to be a little green." "I'm pretty good at it...plus Red said he'd teach me." said Bianca.

"Yes, Red does seem to be well-trained in magic, but there's something about him that seems familiar," said Cyril, "Like something I've read somewhere." "I heard he used to be in one of the Councils." said Bianca.

"Yes, I've heard something similar," said Cyril, "That's why I'm here, to look him up. Where is Red, anyways?" "I think he wanted to see Ember about something," said Bianca.

--

Meanwhile, Red had asked Ember to accompany him. There was something he wanted to know about Flame. "So, Flame's always been the leader among your peers back at the nursery village?" asked Red. "Yeah. We knew each other since we were hatched. The other hatchlings always kinda looked up to him." said Ember.

"So I bet he doesn't care much for living in Spyro's shadow now," said Red. "No...I don't think so. He said he wouldn't know how he'd cope if he was alone." said Ember. "Yes, loneliness does bring out the worse in people," said Red, grinning evily.

Ember looked around. "I turn here...bye, Red." she said and turned. Red smirked. "Yes...goodbye." he said and said a few words, a grey beam shooting out his staff and hitting Ember in the back. She managed ahurt, surprised look before all her colour seemed to be leached and she stopped moving. She'd been turned to granite.

"Hmm, you do pose nicely," said Red, "Perhaps I'll set you in a courtyard. And don't you worry about Flame, I'll take good care of him." With that, Red turned and left, not noticing the terrified human watching from an alley.

--

The next morning, Flame woke up with a loud yawn. He was glad that Ember was around to cheer him up when he was feeling blue. But then he noticed several people running off in a particular direction. He wandered into the street, yawning and managed to stop a human...one of their healers judging from the red cross on his armour. "Whats going on?" he said and the mercs reply woke him up fully. "Its Ember...a patrol just called in..." said the merc before sighing and running off after the others.

Flame immediately started running after them, worried about what may have happened to Ember. It wasn't too far. Only a minutes walk from Embers home. Matt, Spyro, Sonya and Cynder were there already with some of the merc crew from Matt's ship. They looked sadly at Flame. "Hey...maybe you shouldn't see..." said Matt.

"No, I think he should," said Sonya, "It's better that he see himself now." She moved out of the way to show a stone statue of Ember, perfectly carved to represent her. "That's what all the fuss is about?" asked Flame, "It's a great piece of art, but it's nothing to get worked up about." Matt sighed and said. "Hmm...that is Ember." He said.

"What? Don't be silly," said Flame, "People just don't turn to stone." Matt said. "Believe me...they do...I know this for certain." he said. "But, that could only be done with magic," said Flame, "Who would want to turn Ember to stone?" "We have no idea...but if we catch him I will take much pleasure in shooting the person multiple times." said Matt viciously.

"What's going on here?" asked Red as he came around a corner. He looked at Ember's frozen form and said, "Oh, how dreadful. Cut down in her youth. Such a great pity." Matt turned on Red. "Oh shut it, reddy unless you can do something...or is Bianca exaggerating your brilliance?" he said.

"Hmm, let me see," said Red. He peered carefully at Ember and said, "This is definitely the work of dark magic. May be very tricky to break." Matt glared at him before looking at Flame. "We will catch him."

Flame growled and said, "Indeed we will."

--

A little later Red walked up to where Flame was moping. "Flame? Are you ok?" he asked. "Just... angry that someone would such a horrible thing to Ember. She didn't do anything to anyone that deserved this," said Flame.

"Well...I have news...the spell can be broken and I know how to...but there is a problem...in my age I do not have the power left to carry out the spell and Miss Bianca's magic is the wrong type." said Red. "Then teach me," said Flame, "I'll do anything to restore Ember." Red sniled. "Of course, young dragon. Who knows? Even Spyro will respect you once this is accomplished.

"Spyro should be respecting me now," said Flame, "Sure, I wasn't the one who saved the world, but that doesn't mean I'm a sidekick." Red nodded. "So true."

--

Spyro was talking with Cynder about what happened when Flame came up to him. "Spyro, I challenge you to another fight," said Flame. "You sure you want to do that?" asked Spyro, "Your thoughts about Ember may distract you."

Negamorph said to Spyro. "Oh...let him. Letting off steam will be good for him." As a result, Matt and Wilson came round the corner, discussing who may have done the petrification spell and saw Spyro and Flame in the makeshift sparring ring. "What the hell?" said Matt, slowly.

"Ah, it seems young Flame's about to challenge Spyro for leadership," said Red. "Uh, I think they're just sparring," said NegaMorph. "Perhaps, perhaps not," said Red. Matt sighed. "We can step in if it gets too painful." he said.

Then the fight started. Flame started by tackling Spyro. Spyro used his tail to push Flame away from him. Matt watched as Flame started fighting harder and harder, fgorcing Spyro into the defensive. "Hey. This is getting a bit much." said Matt. As he said this, Flame sent a fireball at Spyro who managed to jump this. "Right...if thats how you want it..." said Spyro.

Spyro retaliated with his lightning blasts, but Flame kept powering forward. Even if a bolt did hit him, it didn't seem to do anything but drive him forward. Matt and Wilson exchanged a glance. Flame however seemed to be changing a bit. His red scales were turning a crimson colour and his eyes looked a bit bloodshot.

Flame let out a blast of fire that forced Spyro to cover his face with his wing. But then Flame slammed into Spyro and knocked him to the ground. Before Spyro could get up, Flame bit down on Spyro's leg. Spyro yelled in pain and Cynder lunged forward with an angry hiss only to be knocked down by a tail whip from Flame.

"Ok, this is going too far," said Matt and he switched his blaster to 'stun'. Matt and Wilson aimed at Flame who now was turning on Cynder before firing. Flame roared as the stun rounds hit him before turning on the mercs. "Oh shit." said Matt and he and Wilson started firing shot after shot as Flame advanced on them.

"That will be enough, young dragon," said Red as he waved his staff over Flame's head. A red mist came out and settled over Flame. Flame yawned and tumbled to the ground, fast asleep. Wilson aimed at Flame while Matt had a look at Spyro's leg. "What happened to Flame?" said Spyro, wincing as Matt put a nano-pack on the cut. Red said "I will see to him." and took Flame off.

"Guys, am I the only one who's suspicious about Red?" asked Matt. Wilson nodded. "Yeah. I dunno...something about him creeps me out." Spyro got up, wincing as he put his weight on his leg.

--

However, Red didn't try to calm Flame down at all. He merely took him to a more secluded part. "You did very well," said Red, "You fought for leadership quite magnificiantly. It's a pity those who you would call friends wouldn't allow you to rise up." Flame winced. "They shot at me. Why did they shoot at me?" he said. His eyes were not bloodshot anymore but his scales were still crimson and his claws looked sharper...crueller.

"Oh, you shouldn't take it so personally," said Red, "After all, they are trying to find out what happened to Ember." "Is there any clues as to who's responcible yet?" said Flame. Red sighed. "I shouldn't say this to you...I should tell the captain like he said I should." he said.

"Tell me what?" demanded Flame. "Why, I do believe that one of your so-called friends is responsible," said Red. "It couldn't be Spyro and Cynder," said Flame. "Oh? As if they wouldn't want to get rid of the annoying pink pest that almost got between them?" said Red. "Well, no, they don't know any magic," said Flame.

Red sighed. "What about Negamorph? I'm sure they would have no trouble convincing him to help." he said. "NegaMorph? Him?" asked Flame, "But he hardly seems that bad." "But why not?" said Red, "He's a monster. Who knows what kind of powers he had. I bet he could easily turn people to stone. He sure is ugly enough to do that without magic."

Red glared. "You're right...what did she do to them." he said, his eyes turning red again. "Can you teach me how to free Ember...and get my revenge?" he said, his voice tone darkening. "Oh, I can teach you more than just that," said Red, "I can teach how to assert yourself to your rightful place as leader." "Teach me everything," said Flame. "I thought you'd never ask," said Red.

--

Matt and the others were talking about what had happened. "First Ember becomes a novelty statue then Flame goes crazy...this is unusual even for our day...was Spyro ok?" said Chloe. "Mostly shocked that Flame would go so savage," said Matt. "Well, love can do that some people," said NegaMorph. "I don't think it's just love," said Contrinus, "I think Flame's bitter about something."

"You're right...ever since Red and Bianca turned up." said Wilson. "You know, I thought there was something weird about that bunny," said Matt, "She probably knows how to turn dragons to stone." Chloe sighed. "Of all the paranoid wierd remarks...the bunny did it?" she said in a 'why me' voice. The door into the room opened and one of Ardanos's's men came in. "Er...sir? I think I may know who hurt that 'Ember' person..."

"Well, speak up, don't keep us in suspense," said Chip. The merc sat down gloomily and described what he'd seen. When he'd finished he looked retched. "I was terrified he'd get me too...I shoulda said something." "I thought there was something wrong about Red," said Matt, "But I'm still not changing my opinion about Bianca. She's his apprentice, she could be aiding him."

The group got up and headed out the ship, Matt radioing to every merc to get a gun and meet them at where Red was. As they came out the ship, Cyril and Bianca came up. "Mr Lynch. We just found out something about Red..." said Cyril. Matt interrupted. "That he's evil?" "Well, yes," said Cyril, "But he has quite a history behind that." "A history I was unaware of until now," said Bianca.

"Like what?" said Matt. The rest of Matts crew came into view. "Never mind...tell us after we turn that petrifying nutcase into a colander." said Matt. Xyphros was walking through the hallways when he noticed Matt and his crew passing by, looking rather ticked. "What? Is Malefor sending more goons?" he asked. "Uh, did I miss something?" asked Xyphros. "Reds the one who zapped Ember." said another merc.

"Oh, why didn't you say so?" said Xyphros, "Should I go fetch some pitchforks and torches?" "Nah...we got plenty oh blasters." said Techo.

--

Matt and his group walked into the square where Red was. Flame and Red was there. "Matt? What are you doing here?" said Flame, coming up to Matt only to be pushed past. "Just taking out the trash. HEY RED...HERE'S A NICE PROPER NSC WELCOME!" said Matt before everyone raised their guns and opened fire at Red.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!?" shouted Flame. "We'll explain this later. It's for your own good," said Chip, "NegaMorph, Matt said no torches or pitchforks." "I thought we could have hot dogs later," said NegaMorph. Finally the guns ran out of ammunition. "I think he's nice and dead now...nobody messes with my crew." said Matt.

Then they heard creepy laughter as Red started getting back up. "Ok, modern methods don't appear to work," said NegaMorph, "Angry mob supplies! Get your angry mob supplies right here! We've got torches, pitchforks, and even a couple of shovels!"

The mercs disagreed and began shooting again as Red laughed and ent a stream of black flame at the group. "Something tells me this isn't going to end cleanly," said Contrinus. "Gee, what gave you that impression?" said Chip, whose head was somehow on fire. Matt and Chloe turned Dragon and spat their blasts at Red, only for him to laugh and throw magic blasts at them, blocking the weapon fire from the mercs with some kind of shield.

"If you had bothered to listen, you'd have learned that he was able to withstand all the weapon fire the Atlanteans had," said Cyril. "Bugger..." yelled Matt as Cyril blocked a blast that Red aimed at several of Matts crew.

"Red, stop this at once!" said Cyril, "You have no right to..." "Oh, shut up, you hot-aired cold lizard!" snapped Flame. Everyone except Red looked at Flame. "What the smeg?" said Matt, hovering in mid-air...a mistake as this seemed as Red took advantage of the stationary target.

Red blasted Matt with a spell from his staff. Matt winced, expecting to be turned to stone. When he found he could still move, he said, "Huh, you must have misspelled." Red smirked. "Who said it was the same spell?" Matt looked confused then yelled as a couple of hundred fire ants appeared. Chloe sighed as Matt screamed a bit.

"Why that no good, two-faced salamander!" growled NegaMorph, "I wanted to do that!" Cyril finally managed to encase Red's left side in ice and was about to finish the job when interference came from their own side.

Flame headbutted Cyril very hard and said, "Keep away from him." "Uh, Flame, you're supposed to attack the villain, not help him," said NegaMorph. Flame rounded on Negamorph angrily and sent out a blast of dark fire that actually hurt Negamorph, impressive given how hard it was to usually cause Negamorph injury. Red took advantage of this to send use the same all round energy blast that he'd used on the generals, this time at full power, knocking everyone down except Flame and freeing himself. "Well done, young one..." he said.

"Ow..." groaned NegaMorph, "Ok, if this is for betting on Ember when she was trying to snatch Spyro from Cynder, I'm sorry about that, ok?" Flame looked down on Negamorph, making the experiment gulp. Flames eyes had lost their kind look and were empty.

"Flame, we have no more business here," said Red, "Let us leave." Negamorph got up to see Flame and Red spread their wings and get ready to leave when some of Matts men got up and began shooting again.

"How about you take care of them?" said Red, "Good oppurtunity to show them what you've learned." Flame smirked coldly and confured a black fireball in his claws before throwing it at the mercs, knocking them all down and killing at least two.

"That's my boy," said Red. Then the two fire dragons flew off, leaving much pain and misery behind them.

--

It was a hour later...

The group had a sad atmosphere. It was like Flame had died. The gang were still trying to cure Ember. "NegaMorph, I don't think hitting her with a hammer would do any good," said Contrinus. "Well, if you've got any good ideas, I'm wide open," said NegaMorph, turning around to look at her. Suddenly, there was a crunching sound a bitten-off swearword. NegaMorph looked to see that he had accidentally smashed Techo's hand, which had been examing Ember's form. "Oops. Sorry."

"I...hate you...Negamorph." whimpered Techo, staggering off to the ship to get medical attention. Bianca walked past as Techo staggered off. "I'm so sorry about what happened...I had no idea." she said. "Get lost." muttered Matt, only to have Chloe hit him.

"I think I know how to change her back," said Bianca, "I've read about petrification and how to undo it." "Its worth it...the only other idea we have is Negamorphs piñata idea." said Matt. "Ok, here goes nothing," said Bianca. She pointed her hand at Ember and said something in a strange language. A beam of pink light shot out and zapped her. It didn't appear to do anything at first but then her stone body started to crack. Seconds later, it completely fell off, revealing a dazed and confused Ember underneath.

Matt and Chloe grabbed her before she fell down. "Urgh...what...wait..." said Ember before almost exploding with a selection of interesting and probably rude words aimed against Red. "Ok, I take back those mean words I've said," said Matt, "If you could do that kind of thing, why'd you go to Red in the first place?"

"Well, actually, I'm a bit clumsy at magic," said Bianca. "You don't seem to be," said Chloe. "That's only a few times. Often, something ridiculous happens whenever I try a spell." "Like what?" said Matt before realising what usually happened when he asked that "Oh crap." he said.

Suddenly, Ember sprouted daisies all over her body. "You see?" said Bianca, "Every other magician thinks I'm a joke. That's why I had to go to Red. He seemed like the only one who could straighten out my magic." "I can see that...I'd really like to find who gave me my bad luck and shoot him." said Matt.

"Eh, could have been worse," said NegaMorph before plucking a daisy and sniffing it, "And they smell nice." Ember looked around urgently and said. "Where's flame?" "Uh, Red's kinda, messed with his head," said Chloe. Ember listened in growing horror as Chloe explained what had happened. "No." she said, bursting into tears. "We'll get him back...then we'll nuke Red into a nice greasy smear on the floor." said Matt.

"I doubt that," said Bianca, "If the Atlanteans could only trap him, that's as much we could ever hope for." Chloe smirked. "Believe me...Matt has a way of blowing stuff up." "I can't help but feel slightly responsible for this," said Spyro. "How? You didn't have anything to do with this," said Cynder.

"We should have seen Red for what he was. We let Red into the city...let him do that to Flame and Ember." said Spyro, miserable. "No, that was my fault," said Bianca, "I should have seen what he was when I first let him out." Bianca continued. "Matt said that he was gonna...what was his word...'nuke the smeg out of Red'. What does 'smeg' mean?"

Everyone paused in sudden doubt. "Uh, I think it means..." started NegaMorph before he trailed. "Uh, I heard that it was..." stared Chloe before trailing off. "Uh, beats me," said Matt, causing everyone to face plant.

"But we can beat Red...he was beaten before." continued Matt. Bianca shrugged. "Nope...I read he once beat a whole tribe of ape raiders without breaking a little while." causing a second face plant from the gang.

"Well, who was it that beat him last time?" asked Chloe. "That would be his old student, Malefor," said Bianca. "Ah crap." said Matt. "I'm sure we can reason with him, right?" said Contrinus. "You're not fooling anyone," said Chip, "Least of all yourself." "You're right," said Contrinus gloomily. "Look...at least Flames alive...we'll get him back." Said Matt.

--

Red looked around at his old lair. The Atlanteans and Council had torn it apart after his inprisonment but there were still plenty of dark crystals left. "Hmm... could use a little renevation," he said to himself, "But, there's no place like home, right Flame?" Flame looked around. "Yes, master." he said. Red found what he was looking for. "And now, I think it is time you gained your true potential." he said, pulling out a shard of dark crystal. This one was to, the one used by Malefor on cynder what a bicycle was to a racing motorcycle.

Flame looked at it suspiciously and asked, "What is it?" "The key to your ultimate power," said Red, "Just touch it and let the power flow in." Flame hesitatingly reached out with his claw and touched the crystal. He screamed loudly as he was hit with dark energy. The scales on his body turned a much darker color, making them the color of dried blood. The spines along his back lengthened a bit and flames started flickering between them.

The energy continued to flow out until the crystal collapsed to dust, drained. "How do you feel?" said Red, smirking. He'd been careful this time to make sure that Flame wouldn't have annoying thoughts of rebellion like Malefor had.

"I feel... strong," said Flame, his voice echoing on himself, "I am ready to serve you now, master." Red smiled. "Very good. Soon, the council and my old pupil will pay for locking me away..." he said.

**Oh no...Flame on the dark side? It looks like both Malefor and our heroes are in deep smeg.**

**Please R&R!**


	10. Crimson Darkness pt 2

**Spyro, Cynder, and all other Spyro related characters are property of Sierra studios. **

**Draco, Contrinus, Chip and Cydra are property of my co-author, Cydra. **

**Matt, his merc team, the NSC and related tech, the ancients/atlanteans and malefors dragon generals are mine.**

**CPS Chronicles: Forgotten Blood**

**Chapter 9: Crimson Darkness, pt 2**

Anton was grumbling to himself about how much indignity he had to put up with the dragons when he got a summons from Malefor. He walked over to the throne room and asked, "You wanted to see me, boss?"

"I am not your 'boss'." said Malefor coldly. "Your actions damaged the most important Chakra device...so you will find me a device that will make sure that Warfang will fall." he added. "And what would that be?" asked Anton sarcastically, "A giant gorilla?"

"The atlanteans left plenty of weapons behind...some that rival even my old teacher...you are going to find me one." said Malefor. "I don't suppose you have a treasure map to show me where it is," said Anton.

Malefor glared. "You will find this device or you should try your luck with the dragon of legend." he snarled, making Anton fall backwards. Anton quickly got back onto his feet and ran out. "If nothing else, it will at least get me away from scale-rot for a while," he muttered.

--

**Meanwhile, back in Warfang...**

Our heroes were planning how to capture Red and the human members of our heroes were planning how they would...'explain' their grievances to him in as painful a way as possible. "That guy's going to get the laser zapping of a lifetime," said Techo. "Forget lasers," said Matt, "I say we rip off his ass, kick it around, and then stuff it down his throat."

Chloe, despite her usual approach to Matt when he was coming up with crazy plans added her own. "We could shove him into the Nighthawks engines and hit afterburn." she said. This met with general approval.

"Ooh, wait," said Wilson, "We'll shove NegaMorph into his stomach. Then he can give Red both indigestion and stomach piercings." The dragon members of our heroes were sitting aside from this lesson in psychosis with Negamorph. "Is this usual? When we last met Matt his plans actually had a chance of success." said Sonya.

"Eh, it's a crazy multiverse out there," said NegaMorph, "It's best to let the craziness you soak up out every now and then. Besides, it allows them to be creative, don't put a lid on creativity." By now Techo, had suggested that they send Red an apple with a grenade in it. "But not all the time." finished Negamorph.

"How about we figure out what to do about Flame," said Ember. "For once, that's actually a good idea," said Cynder. "Good point...but we don't know where they went though." said Techo. Matt added "Plus we threw everything at them and they just laugghed at us...and hit us."

"Well, maybe if we stole Red's staff and snapped it in half," said Chloe. The others gave her an odd look. "What? It works in the movies." "Yeah...and what shall stop him snapping us in half before we grab it?" said Wilson. "Well, he can be frozen, can't he?" said Techo, "That's how we was jailed last time, right?"

Matt looked at the scroll from the library. It had been written by a atlantean general, called Atlas. "Yeah...says they used a stasis field which we do not have...the only guy who can pull that trick is Spyro...but he hasn't used time powers since that time he froze Me, Sonya, Cynder and him." "Froze you guys?" asked Chloe. "Yeah, the Mountain of Malefor was collapsing on us, so he used his time freeze power to encase in this crystal," said Matt.

Chloe sighed. "Hmm...we just wanna freeze Red...not everyone." she said, annoyed. "says here Red tried to use something called the 'Destroyer'." she added and saw Matt and Sonya pale and Spyro and Cynder look grim. "We know that." said Spyro. "But the Destroyer was destroyed," said Cynder, "He shouldn't be able to use it. At least not for a couple more centuries."

Matt nodded. "Yeah...we don;t really have to worry too much...but he could still cause meteor impact grade mayhem if we don't slow him down." said Wilson. "That's why finding out where he's heading is our top priority," said Techo, "and I highly doubt he's heading for a vacation spot." "There's alot of ruins near the badlands where we found him." Chloe said. Matt sighed "Yeah...he'd go right into sight of the A.I's his enemies made."

--

Meanwhile, Red and Flame were flying towards the long-abandoned facility. Though the landscape had changed, Red still recognized the landmarks enough to know where he was going.

"What are we looking for, master?" said Flame, looking don at the badlands below.

"There should be something metallic here," said Red, "Or at least somewhat crystalline."

"But all thats here is useless metal..." started Flame as a selection of half-collapsed buildings came into view. "Yes, but one of these scrapheaps is over the entrance to a cavern series beneath it," said Red, "This may take longer than I thought."

--

Flame and Red were not the first here. Anton and a few destroyer droids were checking one of the said scrapheaps. "Sir...objective located." said one of the droids, pointing to a half, covered cargo lift set into the ground. Faint lights showed it still had power. "Bingo." said Anton, reading the sign on the lift.

"'Humbaba'? What kind of name is that?" asked Anton. "I believe it is a referal to a Mesopotamian..." started a robot. "That was a rhetorical question," said Anton.

"I remember seeing a few anyway...always thought it was a crap name." he said, opening a sevice hatch and turning dragon to fly down and see. The huge war machine, a gigantic robot armed witha lethal array of energy weaponry was still intact. "Malefor'll like this." said Anton, looking at it closely, checking for damage. A crash from the service got his attention and he flew up, curious.

He saw a pair of dark red dragons severely smashing apart the robots. "Ah, so that's where it was hidden," said the large one, "You've saved us a lot of searching, Shar-khan. Allow me to... thank you." "Who the hell do you think you are?" said Anton, turning back and drawing his ion blades. "I need to know so I can put it on your GRAVESTONES!!"

"Oh, I'm sure you've heard my name," said the large one, "Here's a hint, it's in the color." Anton wasn't convinced. "Oh yeah...the old has been, Red. Didn't Malefor kick your ass?" he said. Red glared and said, "My apprentice may have overwhelmed me last time, but I plan to stack the odds in my favor. Now I suggest you move before you learn what it's like to have crystals for skin."

"Sorry...the bot is Malefors property so get lost." said Anton, sending a sonic pulse at Red. Red erected a red shield around himself, which blocked the attack easily. "You should have left while you can," said Red, "Now I'll have to teach you a lesson in pain."

"Oh please..." said Anton, still confident. As a result he wasn't expecting it when Flame, who had circled him, jumped on his back. "Hey, get off, pipsqueak," said Anton as he tried to grab Flame. He yelled when Flame dug his claws in. "GAH...YOU LITTLE SHIT!" yelled Anton, turning and swiping at Flame with his ion staff.

"This should prove an amusing spectacle," said Red as he sat down on a dismember robot. "Proceed, Flame, show Anton how much you've learned." Anton backed up, holding his injury. "You're that brat who hanged around with the others..." said Anton before a dark fireball hit him in the chest, knocking him into a half-collapsed wall.

"I don't hang with them anymore," said Flame darkly, his claws suddenly glowing with dark flames. With that, Flame clawed Anton across ther chest, causing Anton to make a gurgle and slump down. Flame added "...And the names Fang now." before slashing Anton again.

"Well done, apprentice," said Red, "But I think he can take more damage, don't you?" Anton lifted his head as Red said "Cut his throat." The beaten Shar-Virk managed to reach into his combat armours pocket and pulled out a small canister, rolling it in the dragons direction.

"What amusing little trick is this supposed to-" Red was cut off when the canister suddenly let out a blinding flash of light. The dragons roared in pain as the flashbang assaulted their senses. When their eyes cleared, a small trail of blood was the only trace as to where Anton had gone. Flame, or Fang now snarled annoyed.

"It doesn't matter," said Red, "He won't last very long, not with all the wounds bleeding." Fang smirked. "Shame we won't see it.

--

Anton didn't know which direction he was heading. Flames/Fangs heated claws had cauterized his wounds but he was still badly injured. He doubted that the generals would lift a claw to get him and even then he had no idea where he was. His vision was blurring up. "Dammit...I should...have told Taleth to...stuff his mission." he muttered.

With that, he shifted to dragon form in the hope that his dragon forms stamina would help him get further...it just made the pain worse. "Ugh...who would have...thought it'd...end this way?" groaned Anton, trying desperately to stay conscious. He saw a blurry shape in the distance and faintly realised he'd been moving for hours.

--

Captain Ardanos had put his troopers on the wall on guard duty. This was mostly as most of the mercs were busy planning insane revenge plots for Red and it was creeping them out. One of the guards suddenly spotted a shape. "Hey, Sarge...over there." he said, pointing to a small shape in the distance.

"Really? Where?" asked the sarge as reached for a pair of binoculars and brought it to his eyes. "Dang it," he said, "These binoculars must be defective. I can't see a thing." "That's because that's my head, you idiot," said Chip's voice.

Chip moved aside and the binoculars picked out a grey scaled Dragon staggering along the grasslands outside the wall. "Oh shit..." he said.

--

Anton was passing out when he heard footsteps and voices. "Damn...get some nano-packs on those cuts." "Give him an adrenaline shot." "Corporal, Get him inside...his attacker might be nearby." "Be sure not to bring him past the others." "Get the medical bay ready." Then Anton passed out.

--

Matt and the others had finally started coming out with a normal plan when one of Ardanos's men came in on them. "Excuse me...we're plotting revenge..." said Matt. The trooper sighed "Captain Ardanos wants to see you all...we found someone outside the wall...a dragon."

"Is it Flame? Did he break free of Red's control and escape?" asked Chloe. "No such luck," said the trooper. The group walked along, following the trooper. When they arrived at the medbay, they saw two guards in full combat gear. "Ok...why the guards?" said Chloe. "You'll see...you'd better hold your brother." said the trooper, opening it.

The air was still for about 10 seconds as Matt and Anton stared at each other. On the eleventh second, Matt screamed, "DIE, SCUMBAG!!!" He lunged at Anton, who screamed like a little girl. Chloe tackled Matt who fell, inches from Anton who, despite his injuries was trying to claw through the wall. "Ok...get him away from me." said Anton.

"Now, Matt, you wouldn't strike Anton when he's down, would you?" said Contrinus. Matt thought about it. "Yes...yes I would...give me a gun." he said. "Allow me," said NegaMorph and he aimed his hand-mouth at Matt. He shot four blobs of black goo that fastened Matt's limbs to the ground. "Probably won't hold him long, but at least it'll give breathing space," he said. Anton settled down a bit. "Well...now we're all comfortable...I suppose I'm under arrest." he said, back in his smug voice, though it sounded weaker.

"Definitely," said Chloe, "but first, how did you get here and what mangled you?" "Whoever it was, I want to shake their hand," grumbled Matt. "His name was Fang...though I suppose its better then Flame." said Anton, settling back. "Ok, I take that last remark back," said Matt. Chloe gave him a 'shut up' look and asked, "Where did he and Red attack you?"

"Why would I tell you? As a prisoner I practise my right to remain silence." said Anton. "Because we'd release Matt on you if you don't talk," said NegaMorph, as he started pulling at the goo on Matt's left arm. Anton smirked. "And how will that help you when Reds new toy comes out and stomps you to the tarmac?" he said.

"What new toy?" demanded Chip. "Oh...looks like both Red and Malefor are moving with the times...given I hear you wrecked the Destroyer for the next few hundred years." said Anton. "You'll have to be more clear than that, Anton," said NegaMorph as he started peeling more goo off Matt.

Chloe smirked. "Negamorph? Do you have access to ALL the clone forms?" she said. "Yep," said NegaMorph, "Every single one." "Ok then," said Chloe, "Make sure that Anton's powers are disabled and let's leave. NegaMorph, can you go with Plan 110-N?" "Oh, sure, gotcha," said NegaMorph, an evil grin on his face. Anton looked worried. "What's plan 110-N?" he said.

"You'll see," said Chloe as she pulled Matt off the floor and carried him out. Matt seemed to have a good idea what the plan was, grinning like a loon. Everyone started filing out except for NegaMorph. Anton looked at NegaMorph and said, "I am resilient to torture." "Probably," said NegaMorph, "But no one's got an endless wit."

With that, he shimmered and became a small experiment that began shooting off his mouth at intense speed. Antons eye twitched nervously as Negamorph carried on. Matt was still fuming. "I still say you should have let me at him," he said. "Now Matt," said Chloe, "We needed him alive to tell us what happened. Besides, isn't mental torture more effective than physical torture?" Matt glared at her and Chloe said, "Sorry, I shouldn't have said that."

The two wandered over to a security station and waved Spyro, Ember and Cynder over. "Now then...this should help cheer us up for a bit." Matt said, turning on the security cam in Antons room, luckily muting it.

Matt looked confused at the tiny experiment NegaMorph had become, who was apparently talking rapidly. "Who's that?" he asked. "Experiment 110, Squeak," said Chip, "Designed to drive people mad by talking their ears off." Contrinus peered at Anton and said, "I think he's trying to eat his own face."

"I wonder what is he's screaming?" said Spyro. "Probably something along the lines of 'Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!'," said Cynder. "How do you know?" asked Ember. "Eh, it's what I used to think whenever I heard your voice," said Cynder. Matt turned on his comm and said "Ok...give him a breather, Negamorph...before he tries to cut his ears off." The group opened the door.

"So, Anton," said Matt, "You wanna talk now or do you need a little more quality time with NegaMorph. You know, there are more annoying experiments he can turn into." Anton stared in horror at Negamorph, who smirked evilly. "No...thats impossible...ok...what do you want to know?" he said.

"First off, what was it that Red and Malefor are after?" said Matt. Anton sighed. "Malefor had me checking some of the old atlantean facilities for abandoned weapons...I found one...Red and Flame interrupted me." he said.

"And what kind of Atlantean weapons was that place holding?" asked Chloe. Anton sighed. "Siege class droids...stuff that makes the Destroyer look like a bad dream...I'll say this...the atlanteans know how to make weaponry." he said.

"I doubt Malefor would have the technical know-how to operate it, though," said Chip. "True, but I was only after its power crystal," said Anton. Anton continued. "But Red was around when the atlanteans were here in force...he'll know how to power it up."

"Ok then, tell us where this thing is hidden," said Matt. "No...I'll lead you there...cause I don't trust your crew." said Anton, simply, adding "Take it or leave it." Matt looked hesitant. "Matt, you know how destructive those old weapons are," said Contrinus, "Think how much devastation Red could create with it?" "Fine...but you aren't getting away." said Matt, coldly.

--

The group were flying over the badlands, headed for the facility Anton had told them about. Chip was being carried by the others and Techo and Wilson had stayed behind in case of trouble. "I certainly hope we have enough firepower here," said Chloe. "What more could we ask for besides this?" asked Contrinus, trying to keep the mood up. Matt thought for a second and said, "A scorpion tank."

Sonya glared. "Well, we don't have a Scorpion tank so there." she said. Anton noticed te expressions of the other dragons and couldn't help but laugh. "You've got a joke to share with us, Anton?" said NegaMorph, his claws flexing in warning. "Oh nothing...you can change a human body but you can't change their attitude." said Anton.

"True enough," said NegaMorph, "But I think you need to keep your mind on the road, so to speak." "Look...this place is dead...my team took out the defence systems." said Anton before looking over at Spyro, Cynder and Ember. "Should they come? We may have to kill Flame you know."

"Not necessary," said Chip, "We've dealt with Draconus, and he's got to be a lot harder than Flame." "No...Flame...I mean, Fang makes Draconus seem stable." said Anton.

"You forget that Draconus has been deeply rooted in Matt for years now," said Chip, "'Fang' only 'sprouted' yesterday. Granted, straightforward talking may not be enough, but if we tire him out first, we may have a better chance." Anton sighed. "I dunno...he was pretty super-charged." he said before pointing down. "There...any closer and we may be seen." he said.

The others started circling downwards. They made sure not to be within easy sight of anyone looking from the ground. The group headed through the ruins. "Ok, Anton...I don't see any Red or Flame...explain." said Matt. "Wait, they are here," said Spyro. "They're really close," said Cynder, "I'm surprised you haven't sensed it until now."

"Ok...they must be around here somewhere..." said Matt, looking around at the old buildings. The shadows all looked a lot deeper now. Suddenly, dark fireballs shout out of the shadows towards them. The group scattered to avoid being singed.

Anton managed to duck into the shadows. Matt, Chloe, Smoldron and Ember were forced into a building while the others were blocked outside. Red and 'Fang' shimmered into view. "I don't remember inviting you." said Red, in an amused voice. "Yeah, we like to crash bad guys' parties," said Matt. "Your evil plan will end now," said Smoldron.

Red sighed. "Fine...Fang...kill them. I'll deal with the purple dragon." he said. Spyro growled at Red and said, "If you're even considering trying to twist like you did Malefor, you can forget it. I won't use my powers for destruction." "Fine...then you can watch me kill your friends before you die." he said.

--

Meanwhile, Flame/Fang was easily handling the group with ease. "Is that all you have?" he said. He'd shown no sign of recognising Ember at all throughout the battle. "Just getting warmed up," said NegaMorph as he morphed into Yang and fired a blast of lava at him. "Uh, we don't want to kill him, remember?" said Sonya. "I highly doubt this stuff will kill him," said NegaMorph.

"HAH!" said Flame/Fang, blasting the lava back at Negamorph before tail whipping Sonya as she lunged at him. "Ok, lava was a bad idea," said NegaMorph as he shifted to Phoon, "Let's try wind." He then stared blowing a gale at Flame. Flame/Fang backed up a bit before sending a feedback pulse of dark energy into Negamorph before sending a shard of metal into him. Matt looked up to see a old crane above Flame. "Sorry, Flame." he said and shot it, making it fall on Flame.

Flame looked up and blew out a blast of flame that melted the crane into molten metal. He then sent another blast out that sent the metal hurling towards NegaMorph. NegaMorph had just gotten out from behind the shard when he saw the molten metal heading towards him. "Oh, this is gonna burn," he said.

Matt winced as Negamorph vanished in the pile of molten metal with a hissing noise. He and Chloe turned in time to receive a fireball between them from Flame who then turned to Ember. "One left." he said, batting aside Xyphros aside with ease as he tried to stop him.

"Listen to me, Flame, you're a lot better than this, I know," said Ember, "If you weren't you wouldn't have stood by my time all those times. You don't have to be leader to prove anything to me." Flame stopped for a second. Something about the dragoness seemed familiar...no...his master wanted them all dead. "No...you're not her...she's dead." he hissed.

"No, I'm not, though Red tried to see to that," said Ember. "No...no...they put you up to this...NO!" said Flame, backing up. Suddenly, Matt sneaked up behind Flame and grabbed him. "Ok, no more chilli peppers for you," he said. Flames eyes focussed again and he superheated his body, making Matt stagger back before Flame blasted him again. He turned back to Ember. "My master will decide what to do with you."

--

Meanwhile, Spyro and Cynder were busy with Red. While he only had one breath ability, he was just as tough as Malefor, thanks to the many spells he could produce with his staff. "It seems the eldars don't teach as well as they did when I was on the council." said Red, evilly, sending another blast out, nearly hitting Cynder.

"Anything you would teach can't be worth knowing," said Cynder before she sent out a poison blast at Red. Red stopped the poison shot in mid-air and sent it back into Cynder, laced with dark magic.

Cynder hurriedly got out of the way. Good thing too, as the enhanced poison blast caused the rock to melt where it hit. "There's only one way to beat me, young dragon." taunted Red. Spyro glared and said, "I won't give in to darkness. I may not do it this time, but I will defeat you without resorting to dark magic." "Then your friends will all die." said Red, sending out an arc of black lightning that hit Cynder.

Spyro gave a roar of anger and looked like he was about to do something drastic when he paused and said, "No. Unlike you, I have withstand temptation." "Fine...I can work on it." said Red, sending out another blast into Spyro, knocking him down. Just then, Flame came in, bringing Ember along with him. "Master," said Flame, "What shall I do with this one?" Red turned and went wide eyed. 'How in hell did they manage that?' he thought.

"Er, um, it is such a relief that your friend is back to normal, Fang. Yes, I had hoped it would happen," said Red mechanically. Flame didn't look convinced. "You said Spyro and Cynder did this...and it wasn't reversible." he said.

"Well, er, I had thought that it was irreversible," said Red, "Apparently I was mistaken. But that didn't mean Spyro and Cynder didn't do it. They're responsible alright." Ember looked over at Red, angrily. "You liar...you did it to me...not them...and then you used Flames pain against him." she said. Red glared. "SILENCE!" and shot her with a blast.

Flame glared at her and growled, "You shouldn't have hurt her." "Apprentice, here's an important lesson," said Red, "Forget about love, it'll only weigh you down." Flame glared. "No...I don't want to hear it...you leave her alone." he said, stepping in front of Ember, the flame on his spines blazing as he got angrier.

"That's right, Flame," said Spyro, "You don't have to listen to him anymore. You don't need dark magic to earn respect from anyone. You could do it all on your own." Red turned to blast Spyro again to find his blast blocked by a energy field that Flame erected. "Oh...so again my apprentice wants to fight me." said Red.

"I'm not your apprentice anymore," said Flame, "and I'm going to make sure you'll never twist another one again." Red smirked. "I've definitely heard that before." he said and levelled his staff at Flame. "I'm not afraid of your stupid stick," said Flame and he promptly picked up a rock and threw it straight at the gem part, which cracked on impact.

Red staggered back as the staff began to glow. "The hell? No...what have you done?" he said in horror as energy began to crackle from it. A arc grounded in his arm and he winced as it became encased in crystal.

Just then, the others came back, having come back to their senses. "What's going on here?" asked Smoldron. "We're about to learn the reason why magically infused atlantean tech shouldn't be broken." Red turned and glared at Ember. "You ruined everything...DIE!" he said. With what was probably the last of his magical power, Red zapped Ember, turning her into an ice statue.

There was a blast of light that blinded everyone. When it cleared, Red could be seen, trapped in a stasis crystal. "Good riddance." said Matt, before seeing Ember. "Oh no." "I don't think Bianca will be able to fix this," said Contrinus. "Well, we can at least keep her from melting," said Chip, "Sonya, keep her solid." Flame glared at everyone. "Leave her alone." he said.

"I never should have let that jerk try to manipulate me," said Flame, "I was his puppet from the start. He thought he could just twist me into another Malefor. He gave me this dark power so I could be more like him. But I won't keep it any longer!" Suddenly, a bolt of magic came out of him and struck Ember. There was a flash of bright light and when it cleared, both of them were back to normal. Ember looked a bit out of it. "What happened?" she said and was knocked over as Flame hugged her.

"Ember, I promise I'll never get too jealous of anyone again," said Flame. There was a loud beeping noise and the others looked to see NegaMorph had become Fibber. He shifted back and said, "Couldn't resist." Matt sighed before grabbing Negamorph. "Come on...letsleave these two alone...Negamorph...a word please." he said.

--

Flame led Ember to a more private area to talk. "Ember, I'm sorry for everything," said Flame. "You don't have to apologize," said Ember, "You couldn't have possibly known who Red really was."

"But I should have been suspicious from the first," said Flame, "It was my fault that he used you to get to me. If I hadn't let my anger and jealousy cloud my judgment, I wouldn't have been so twisted by him. I guess Spyro really deserves to be leader more than me."

"Flame, since when have I ever desired for you to be leader?" asked Ember.

"Well, when you went gaga for Spyro, I just thought you thought authority to be more appealing," said Flame, deeply embarrassed.

"Flame, I admit I did like Spyro for being strong and brave, but that was only a passing fancy," said Ember, "I've known you for as long as I can remember. You don't have to be the leader to prove anything. Just knowing you'll be by my side is enough for me."

Flame smiled and said, "Oh, Ember, I've been such a fool."

"So, even if I'm not the leader, can you still consider me the boss?" asked Flame.

"Don't spoil the moment," said Ember.

"Sorry."

--

Later, Anton was looking through the facility when he stumbled across Red's crystalized form. "Well, well," said Anton, "Looks like one of Mr. Red-Death's spells backfired. Don't worry, old chum, I'll give you the burial you deserve."

He walked around till he found what he'd been looking for...an open service lift shaft. With a little effort he pushed Reds form over to the hole. He looked over to stare Red in the face. "I hate being hurt...goodbye, red...mind the first step...its a big one." and with that, he pushed Reds form into the shaft...a good 40 feet drop.

Anton thought for a second and said, "You know, a big ruby statue like that might have been worth a lot of money..." A pleasant tinkling sound of breaking crystal reached his ears. "Eh, spilled milk," said Anton as he took the power crystal out of his pocket, "Now to bring the important crystal back to the boss." He smirked a bit. "One thing I love about the lynches...much too trusting..."

**So flame is rescued and reds gone...for now...who knows? **

**Please R&R!**


	11. Monsters, Old and New

**Spyro, Cynder, and all other Spyro related characters are property of Sierra studios. **

**Draco, Contrinus, Chip and Cydra are property of my co-author, Cydra. **

**Matt, his merc team, the NSC and related tech, the ancients/atlanteans and malefors dragon generals are mine.**

**Authers notes: Basic bios of the guest villain, Ghoulwyrm and the new char, Stephen can be found at the end of this chapter.**

**CPS Chronicles: Forgotten Blood**

**Chapter ****10: Monsters, Old and New.**

Avalar had an atmosphere and environment just like Earth's. So it was just as inclined to inclement weather as Earth. However, the thunderstorm currently going on seemed a bit more intense than usual.

Any observer would have just passed it off as an unusually bad storm and left it at that. But then they would also have seen how the purple lightning bolts seemed to all hit the same area, making the air ripple. Sadly nobody was near there...and so didn't see the shape shimmering into view...

--

Everyone at Warfang was huddled up inside the buildings. No one would want to be stuck outside during a storm like this. Even the humans were keeping a low profile. The storm's static was messing with the computers on every ship, making flights a safety nightmare.

Techo however was taking this moment to perform repairs on the Nighthawk's comm system that had been damaged a week ago by the wyvern facility's defense missiles. "Sure wish I had better tools to do this with," said Techo, "Though aren't any hardware stores on this planet." He swore as a couple of wires sparked, shocking him. "Son of a..." he said and stopped as beeps began to come from the speaker.

"What the-" He paused and listened to the beeping for a while. Then he activated his comlink and said, "Matt, I think you want to get over here.

Matt wandered in a few minutes later, yawning. "Ok...what's the huge emergency?" he said.

"I think I've found another group of survivors," said Techo, "Or at least their signal."

Matt listened to the beeping. "Yeah...or it could be Anton pulling another trap," he said. "Yeah, I've thought of that too," said Techo, "But I've double-checked it. It looks genuine." Matt sighed. "Fine, we'll check it out, but if I'm struck by lightning again..." he said

Unfortunately, the weather was too severe for them to fly there, so they had to go on foot. But that didn't mean that the clouds didn't mistake Matt for a lightning rod.

Matt glared from under his new layer of soot at everyone's grins. "It's not funny," he said. The fact that the rain had turned the area they were in into a muddy swamp hadn't helped his mood along. "Sheesh, this ground feels like wet cement," said Chip as he tried to trudge through. There was a small pop as one of his legs got stuck and it popped off his body. "Oh, not again!" he moaned. Techo sighed and pulled the leg loose.

Spyro and Cynder were definitely not enjoying things though but given the fact that lightning was lighting up the clouds every few seconds they were not unhappy enough to try their luck. "How much further?" asked Spyro.

"Probably a couple more miles," groaned Techo, "It's not fair? Why couldn't the signal have been picked up on a sunny day?" Matt sighed. "Yeah, but it is us, knowing our luck this is a trap."

There was a click and a 'goddard' plasma rifle, along with its holder shimmered into view, the rifle aimed at Matt's ear. "Yeah, it's like you're psychic, mate," said the filtered voice of the commando as 12 more appeared, surrounding the group.

"Drop the hardware or you're dead." said another commando. "Oh, please tell me this is a joke," groaned Chloe. One of the commandoes sent a round into the ground near Chloe's feety. "I said drop it."

"Fine, fine," said Matt as he dropped his weapons, "At least I know you're NSC, right?" "Move it," said the commando near Matt without another word. Another commando turned on his comm. "Captain. Patrol 13 here. Got the intruders...headed back now."

--

Matt was silently pleased that the commando team hadn't separated them but it was clear they weren't happy with Spyro and Cynder, having placed more of their squad around the two dragons. The group were led along several barely visible paths that formed a maze that put the mini-canyons near where Cynder's tower was to shame, until it arrived at where something had burnt a 30 feet circle out the rock into a clearing. The 'something' was a huge cruiser, landed and surrounded by a dozen tents and vehicles. "Move it," said a commando, pushing them forward when they stared.

"Nice to know there really are more survivors," said Techo, "Though I kinda hoped they'd be friendlier."

"Cut the chatter," said another commando before looking ahead. The whole team stood to attention as a silhouette in the rain came into view.

"Stand down soldiers," said a voice, "They're on our side." "But sir, we've caught them trespassing with weapons," said one commando, "Not to mention they were travelling with dragons. "This planet has hundreds of dragons, not all of them can be unfriendly. Besides, they probably didn't even know where they are."

Matt looked up. "Wait...Stephen?" he said. The voice was definitely the same as the Mythiconian hybrid he'd met a year ago. "Stephen. It's me, Captain Lynch," he said, before being pushed back by a commando.

"Just a second, I want to take a better look at them," said the voice. The silhouette came closer, revealing a young man with brown hair and green eyes. He was wearing the uniform of an NSC captain.

Matt wasn't quite sure if Stephen would know him by appearance, so he picked up Chip and held him towards Stephen. "Surely you remember this guy?" said Matt, "You know, the know-it-all cyborg smartypants?"

Stephen smirked as Chip electrocuted Matt. "Chip. I haven't seen you since Mythicos. Still stuck with the loony?" he said before seeing Chloe. "And who's this raven-haired beauty?" asked Stephen.

"My sister," said Matt flatly.

"You sis...oh..." Stephen looked embarrassed, "Er, sorry, didn't mean to..." Chloe promptly whacked him on the head and said, "Apology accepted." The commandoes all tensed up for a second until Stephen got up, waving them away. "I'm fine, let em go, all of them," he said.

The commando leader looked at Spyro and Cynder, saying "But the general's orders..." Stephen glared, the commando jumping back as he saw something in Stephen's eyes that made him jump.

"This is my ship, not Neilsson's," he said coldly.

The commandos reluctantly walked away. "It certainly has been a while, Matt," said Stephen, "And I see that you've collect some new friends." His eyes glanced over at Spyro, Cynder, NegaMorph, and Contrinus. Stephen's gaze stayed on NegaMorph a few seconds beyond the comfort margin.

"He's cool," said Matt.

Stephen turned back "Well, welcome to the NSS Warlock, newest ship in the fleet. Don't count on calling for help though. See that twisted hunk of metal?" he said, gesturing the ship and more precisely a torn hunk of arials and dishes on top.

"Hmm, I'm surprised we were able to get your signal with your communications being trashed like that," said Techo. "We still have short range, but we've only got a third of our fighters left. Whatever that thing did rebooted the entire base systems," said Stephen, sighing, "I wouldn't have minded the holiday if it wasn't for the company."

"What do you mean-" started Matt when an annoyingly familiar voice was heard. "Well, it's about time you rejects showed up!" "Oh man," groaned NegaMorph, "I was hoping he'd died during the attack. Now I have to pay back some debts." "General assho...I mean General Neilsson. I'm so sorry to see you unharmed," said Matt. Spyro whispered to Chloe. "Doesn't he mean he's happy?" "Trust me, he really meant what he said," said Chloe.

Neilsson glared. "You're still under arrest, you know," he said to Matt icily. He looked at Spyro and Cynder and said, "And I see you've brought vermin with you." "Look, it's been a while since I've been able to take a hot shower, okay?" said NegaMorph. Spyro and Cynder were horrified by the sheer hatred emanating from Neilsson when he looked at them. "Hey, watch it, buddy before I add assault charges to my crime sheet," said Matt.

"You're not in any position to give orders or threats," said Neilsson. "Well, considering the current circumstances, neither are you," said Matt. "How dare you?" began Neilsson before Matt said.

"For heaven's sake, lose the anti-dragon attitude. These guys are the only people willing to give us a break...ok?" he said, angrily.

"I could have you court-martialed right now," warned Neilsson. "Ok...we'll give the NSC council 30 seconds to arrive to do that," said Matt, sarcastically. "Do we really have to let them in?" asked Neilsson, "They'll foul up the air with their stench."

"Hey!" shouted NegaMorph, "Just because you've got a fancy badge, doesn't mean you can call us-" He paused and sniffed his left armpits, "Ok, I'll give you the stench part. But like I said, no hot showers."

"They're dragons, not zombies," said Matt.

"You do realize that we're almost out of food, right?" said Stephen, "You're not saying you'd rather starve than accept their help. That's rather poor leadership quality."

Neilsson looked like he was going to throw a fit but said, "Fine, but they're getting cleaned before getting on the ship." "Now wait a sec-" began Chloe. "You guys are covered in mud," pointed out Stephen.

--

Meanwhile, Avarona and Shard were busy searching a part of the forest under the middle of the thunderstorm. Naturally, neither was very happy about the assignment. "Why do we have to go looking in the middle of this nightmarish weather?" complained Shard. "I think we need more than 'just a feeling' to be sent out here," said Avarona, "Between you and me, I think Malefor's brain tissue is starting to decay."

A lightning bolt earthed on Shard's horns at this point. "Gah! That's it. I vote we head back and say those humans beat us to it," he said."Yeah," said Avarona, "This is just particularly bad weather. There's nothing special about it and I hardly believe it was created by anything more than an accumulation of water droplets."

Suddenly, a large branch hit Avarona on the back. "Ow! What did you do that for?" she demanded.

"Do what?" asked Shard. Shard flew past her, grumbling when a rock hit him in the back. "AVARONA!" he roared, turning. "Oh, so you're blaming me now?" growled Avarona.

"Well, if you're going to smack me, do it in my face," growled Shard. Suddenly, two logs seemed to float up into the air on their own. The two dragons stared at them for a second before the logs hurled themselves forwards and hit them both in the face.

The two generals landed sprawled on the ground. "Ok...that was unusualn" said Shard, mentally interrogating Draco's personality to see if he knew what it was and wincing from the swearword he got as a response.

"So, it's just a poltergeist or something," said Avarona, trying to hide her growing fear. "All it can do is hurl stuff at us." There was an ominous snigger and a disembodied voice said, "Oh, how can I resist a challenge like that?" and an energy blast knocked Avarona down again.

Shard backed up nervously and said, "Y-y-you don't sc-sc-scare me." "I don't? Well, I'll have to up my game, won't I?" said the voice. Suddenly, Shard felt invisible coils wrap around his limbs. Before he knew it, he was being swung around and around, crashing into various trees and rocks.

Avarona came round to see this. However, the hidden figure's actions had caused a mistake. After all, her host had learnt to shoot from the best. She sent a blast of ice at where she predicted the invisible figure was. To her surprise, the blast went through. However, the voice said, "Ooh, that was chilly. I better warm up." Suddenly, purple fire started coming out of thin air and roasting/melting everything it touched.

Luckily for Shard the figure let go. "So, the mercenary chooses to send an assassin," he said.

"Sorry, wrong answer," said the voice. "I don't care who or what this guy is, I am not going to tell the Dark Master we were beaten by some ghostly trickster," said Avarona.

The figure fell silent. "No way..." it said in a clearly shocked voice. Avarona and Shard looked confused for a moment before the voice said in a much friendlier tone, "I hadn't realized that you were in his employ. Had I known, I'd have greeted you much more hospitably."

"Who the hells are you?" said Shard, a bit stunned from the reversal. "Hmm, I suppose I should introduce myself," said the voice. Both Avarona and Shard were on edge, they detected mischief in the voice.

The two just stood there for a few seconds, on edge. "Erm...hello?" said Avarona.

Suddenly, during a flash of lightning, a large figure appeared in front of them. It roared loudly as its head split in half while tentacles squirmed through the grooves on its neck and chest. The two generals screamed in horror, jumping back. "What the hell?" said Avarona. The creature chuckled darkly as it snapped its muzzle back together and its tentacles withdrew back under its skin. "Sorry, couldn't resist," said the wyvern-like monster with an ethereal voice.

"Dammit. I remember you, now. You're the one who let Devina get captured on earth," said Avarona.

"Oh yeah. That was ages ago. Those were good times," said the monster as it tilted his head back, reminiscing distant times.

"Thanks to your bungling we all ended up inside jewelry for the better part of a millennium," said Shard, angrily. "Well, I was trapped in a stone shell for about 3000 years," said the monster, "So who do you think got the most stir crazy?"

"US!" said the generals at the same time. "We were barely out a few months before a damn Shar-khan sealed us away again," said Avarona, as coldly as only she could. "Let me guess, his name was Matthew Lynch," said the monster. "How did you know?" asked Shard.

"That kid's been getting my hair too, figuratively speaking," said the monster, "I'm not the least bit surprised that he's got enemies here." "Look, Zyvar, we don't really care. Master Malefor told us to find you," said Shard rudely. The monster held up its head with dignity and said, "Very well, take me to him. By the way, it's a new millennium, Atlantean's not the common language anymore. Call me 'Ghoulwyrm' now."

--

Matt had finally gotten clean and was looking around. "Hey, where are the two dragons who were with me?" he asked. "The quarantine room," said Techo, "Apparently, Neilsson thinks they could be carrying some kind of disease that could be harmful to humans and he's having the two of them being decontaminated."

"Oh for God's sake!" yelled Matt, "Where's the quarantine room?" he said, angrily, furious at Neilssons paranoia and rudeness towards the two dragons. "Over that way," said Techo pointing, "They're probably on the spin cycle by now." Matt actually went pale and pushed past Techo. Wilson said simply, "Why'd you go tell him that? You and me both know that quarantine isn't like that. He'll probably shoot Neilsso....oh."

Meanwhile, the ship was approaching Warfang. Neilsson was on the deck, looking at the city through the window. "An admittedly remarkable city," said Neilsson, "Though it's got too many scalies for my taste."

"Sir, I'd try to keep those thoughts inward if I were you," said Stephen, "Those would be the equivalent here of saying you were of the Ku Klux Klan in New Orleans."

"...And they're still sore over a colony that was wiped out on the Ancients' homeworld. I had to break up a fight first day there," said Matt. Neilsson just nodded. "Fine..." he said simply. "Incidentally, I think it was a bit extreme to put Spyro and Cynder through decontamination," said Matt.

"Don't be silly, I didn't just put the dragons through decontamination," said Neilsson, "I threw the black blob in there too." Matt stopped. "Ok, that was cruel," he said.

Then they heard a voice say, "And pretty unnecessary too. I may have needed a shower, but I didn't need one _that_ bad." They turned to see NegaMorph, only all of his black skin, claws, and teeth were bright white. They stared at NegaMorph for a few seconds before NegaMorph asked, "What? What are you staring at?"

"You look like Morph...AAAAH!" said Matt, dodging a few fangs. NegaMorph wandered off, muttering darkly. "Personally, I think being white's an improvement over being black," said Neilsson. A couple of African-American crew members seemed to take offense against this.

"He was referring to NegaMorph's bleached skin, not you guys," said Stephen. He muttered to Matt, "It would have been nice to see him get beat up though."

Matt nodded as Spyro and Cynder came in. Both of them were very clean. While the decontamination was rough, it did make their scale shine. However, Spyro's were shining the wrong color. Cynder was trying to stop a laugh and it was clear why.

It was well known that dark colored clothing should be washed separate from all other washing; it also apparently applied to dark colored genetic blobs too. Matt smirked. "Are we in a bit of a dark mood?" he said, unable to resist, causing Cynder to finally crack.

"This isn't permanent, is it?" asked Spyro, looking as black as a coal mine though as spotless as a whistle.

"No, probably wear off by tomorrow," said Matt. "Till then, we're stuck with two Cynders and an albino sickle-backed amoeba," noted Stephen with amusement. "Yes, but on the plus side Techo should be able to jury rig up a new relay. Then you can blast Malefor to the stone age and back," said Matt, happily.

Matt had been a bit right and was happy to see Neilsson was keeping his opinions inside. The dragon population looked annoyed and worried at the cruiser hovering overhead and as usual, Xyphros was leading the crowd.

Matt and Stephen went out first. "Relax, people," said Stephen, "We're on your side. My men are not evil. But don't be confused, they are jerks." Matt pointed a thumb at Neilsson. "Behold, a case in point," he said, smirking as Neilsson glared at him.

"Just how many of you are there in there?" asked Xyphros. "900 surviving crew and 400 marines and pilots," said Stephen promptly. "And you dragons still outnumber us," remarked Matt. "But you have your guns and that huge war machine," heckled a dragon from the back of the group. "Well, it's not like we'll be turning them on you," said Stephen, "Right Neilsson?"

Neilsson was silent for a second. "NEILSSON!" yelled Chloe in his ear, making everyone present cringe automatically. "Gah...I mean, of course not," he said, looking nervously at Chloe. "Did your sister always have that temper?" asked Stephen to Matt. "Pretty much," said Matt.

"Hmm... between the two of you, I wonder if you were descended from berserkers," muttered Stephen.

A well-aimed lightning bolt earthed on Stephen. "I HEARD THAT!" yelled Chloe. Satisfied, all the dragons left, except for Xyphros. He walked over to Spyro and Cynder. "Hello Cynder," he said, looking at Spyro. "Um, she's Cynder," said Spyro in an embarrassed tone.

Xyphros stared daggers at Matt. "What did you do?" Matt, to Xyphros's shock, grabbed his head and turned him to face Neilsson. "That's the guy you want to ask that." "Well don't blame me," said Neilsson, "How I was supposed to know that asymmetrical goblin's colors peeled off in the wash?"

Matt sighed. "General noodle has a point," he said before looking at Spyro. "Have you tried rubbing it?" he said absently. "Oh, I've got something for that," said Chip as he pulled a wax buffer out of his chest compartment. "I use this when I want that nickel-bright shine."

Everyone stared in fascinated horror at it. "No...I don't think we need that," said Matt in a distant voice.. "Spyro...run," he said simply. Spyro immediately ran off, with Chip following right behind him. "C'mon!" called Chip, "You looked like you could have a few dead scales removed anyways." A mole watched the two of them run past. "I gotta lay off the root beer," he muttered to himself.

**Banshee Base**

**Burned Lands**

Ghoulwyrm looked around at the construction going on. "I never thought Malefor would set up camp in a NSC base," he muttered before seeing Malefor, "...or steal my thunder," he finished, annoyed at Malefor's new look. Malefor returned Ghoulwyrm's annoyed look. He forced his muzzle into a smile and said, "Ghoulwyrm, you're looking good."

"More than I can say for you," said Ghoulwyrm, "I have to say, your generals are still as rusty as when I last saw them," hearing a snarl from Raptor. "At least we hold ourselves up with dignity," said Raptor, "We are the best of the best. We must be in order to serve the great Malefor."

"Oh, shut up, Raptor. You still keep this guy around?" said Ghoulwyrm. "His prattling can be irritating, but at least he's truly loyal," said Malefor, putting great emphasis on the last word. Ghoulwyrm sighed, "Are you still sore over what happened to Devina? I had no idea those reinforcements would arrive," he said.

Devina growled and said, "I don't see why we have to keep this bag of bones around." "Hey, you keep that bag of bones around," said Ghoulwyrm, pointing at Malefor. Malefor snarled a bit. "Devina has a point. Before you do, you need to prove you can help us," he said. "What with that clown ship of mercenaries?" said Ghoulwyrm, "I can take those easily." "Same old Ghoulwyrm," muttered Shard, "His heart may have stopped beating, but his head's still as swollen as ever." "I know the mercenaries. They are a bit of a pain, but I can handle them," Ghoulwyrm said.

"They are nearly full Shar-khan," reminded Malefor, "I think you should be able to remember what a handful they were." "Oh crap. I thought the ancients stopped doing that to people," said Ghoulwyrm, gloomily. "Apparently, these two were created due to a pack of sentient demonic artifacts messing with a portal from their world," said Malefor.

"Well, uh, I wouldn't know who those demons were," said Ghoulwyrm, looking slightly chagrined.

Malefor looked suspicious before saying, "Well...I'll ask later. First, you will help clear the way for an attack on Warfang. While the Elders work with the humans, we cannot get near."

"Oh, I know how to slip right under their noses," said Ghoulwyrm. "Oh, and I suppose you're going to turn invisible and float through the walls?" said Avarona. "Something like that," said Ghoulwyrm as he turned transparent. Before Avarona could question more, Ghoulwyrm dived straight into her.

The other generals jumped as strange tattoos appeared round Avarona's eyes. She opened her eyes and they were the same as Ghoulwyrm's. "Huh, kinda cramped in here," she commented with Ghoulwyrm's voice, "Can't say much for the view."

Malefor sighed. "Please get out of my General and GET ON WITH IT!" he said, yelling the last part.

"Ok, ok, hang on," said Ghoulwyrm. Avarona's face grimaced for a minute and then Ghoulwyrm said, "Huh, this is odd." Another minute of straining and Ghoulwyrm's transparent head came out of the back of Avarona.

"Uh oh," said Ghoulwyrm, "I think I'm wedged. Can someone give me a push?" There was a white flash and Ghoulwyrm was ejected out and into a wall, sadly turning solid before impact. "Thanks, Kala," he said, wincing. He'd hit the old bases flag pole.

Ghoulwyrm got back up, only for his neck to be stuck in a 270 degree bent. "Ow, hang on a sec," he said. He grabbed his neck and forced back into shape, accompanied by sickening bone-cracking noises. "That's better," said Ghoulwyrm, "I must say Avarona, I'm surprised you let the little dormouse still live in there. I would have thought you'd throw her out on the street."

"I haven't been up at strength since that damn human used an Avalar exorcism spell on me," said Avarona, getting an agreeing hiss from Devina. "So you all have 'roomies'," said Ghoulwyrm, "And judging by the scent, I'd guess Shard has to board with that mongrel dragon-wannabe."

"Oh, he's not that bad company, apart from the death threats," said Shard, "But how will you get inside? Anton managed to get a look at Warfang. A new ship's there, one of their warships." "There's one thing that never changes about a fortress," said Ghoulwyrm, "All defenses stop at ground level." To prove so, he turned intangible and floated down into the ground.

"He does know they'll just hit him over the head repeatedly when he tries to emerge," said Shard.

Devina added, "Yeah, shame we can't watch." Just then, Anton walked in. "What's going on in here?" he asked. Unseen by him, two of Ghoulwyrm's bandages reached out for his belt. The next thing Anton knew, his pants were pulled to the ground, leaving him standing in his underwear. "Although, his sense of humor's improved," said Avarona.

--

It didn't take too long for Ghoulwyrm to reach Warfang. He floated outside the city walls, invisible for safety's sake. "Hmm, now how to slip inside?" he muttered to himself. Ghoulwyrm had to duck in when two troopers walked into view, wearing devices called Ecto-Goggles, special IR goggles used by troopers near Ectonurite areas. "Hmm, invisibility won't help this time," said Ghoulwyrm, "Of course, I could go for the old Trojan Horse trick."

Ghoulwyrm wound bandages around himself until he was completely covered. With a flash of purple light, he was replaced by a grey dragon with purple spines. "This should get me in," said Ghoulwyrm.

The guard above the door didn't look amused. "Hey, Elder Zara told you guys not to play outside the wall," he said

"Pardon me," said Ghoulwyrm, "I wasn't paying attention as to where I was landing. Could you let me in?"

"Just fly over the wall. You're not an undead, get in here," said the guard, angrily.

"I would, but I think I pulled a wing muscle," said Ghoulwyrm, "I won't be able to fly till morning and I wouldn't want to leave claw holes in the wall."

The guard grumbled but moved out of sight. The gates slowly ground open on one side, letting him in. The dragon's eyes briefly glowed purple as he muttered, "Thanks for the invitation, sucker." He was intending to rip the stupid human apart upon entering but stopped when he saw how much were around, and not just regulars. He spotted at least a few commandoes wandering around...and all loaded up for either hunting Godzilla or war.

"Hmm, perhaps a night visit later," said Ghoulwyrm to himself, "But for now, let's see what my old foes are up to." He walked calmly out of range of the soldiers' sight. Then, he disappeared in a flash of purple light to be replaced by a purple bat-like creature with a dragon's tail and wolf-like legs.

He quickly leapt up to the roof of a building and headed along the roofs, looking around till he spotted Matt, talking to someone out of sight. "...think Chip's forgot about the buffer. It's safe to come out," he was saying.

Ghoulwyrm looked down to see Matt talking with a black dragon. "Hmm, that must be Cynder," said Ghoulwyrm. "Look, Spyro, just wait till it rains, looks like another storm's coming. Bet you a gem it washes right off....did you hear a clunk?" said Matt, looking around. The clunk had been Ghoulwyrms jaw literally hitting the floor...being undead had disadvantages.

The two looked around for a minute before Matt said, "Must have been a rat or something." "How's NegaMorph doing?" asked Spyro. "He's fine...got his color back last I saw...but Techo just commed to ask where all the black stealth paint went...so I dunno." said Matt. "He does look rather odd in white," said Spyro.

"Yeah, kinda, but at least he's as threatening-looking," said Matt. He looked upwards to see an odd purple bat-like creature hanging near his head. "Huh, what weird bats you have here," he said as he pulled out a can of riot spray and spritzed the little critter. Five minutes later, Ghoulwyrm was still sneezing. "Smegging cans of Raid," he was muttering.

--

Meanwhile, Chip had taken a break from chasing Spyro around and was talking with Stephen at a local restaurant. "It's amazing how these things pop up so quickly," commented Chip, "You know, I don't know why Spyro ran. This buffer doesn't really hurt on skin, does it?"

Stephen sighed and took the buffer off him and read, "Warning. Only for use on cybernetic lifeforms."

"Huh, you'd think I'd have noticed that," said Chip as he took the buffer back, "Too bad, it'd have really gotten that black paint off of him." "And probably his skin too," reminded Stephen, "We don't all have a choice of skin in the morning, you know."

"True point," said Chip, "Speaking of which, you certainly look better since the last time we saw you."

"I managed to get the hang of that Omnitrix." said Stephen, pulling down his shirt collar to reveal the Drac Omnitrix, still on his neck.

"Well, it's certainly less complex than Ben's," said Chip, "Seeing as it only has one form on it. Two if you're counting your human form. So I guess you've pretty much got that dracopyre thing under control?"

"More or less, Neilsson hasn't got any idea though, so don't tell him," said Stephen just as a roll of thunder signaled that the storm clouds had reached the city.

"Like I'd tell that xenophobe anything like this," said Chip, "You can count on me to keep your secret. At least you can live a normal life now." "Yeah...damn, the weather around here changes fast," said Stephen before seeing a bat-like creature making moaning noises. He picked up a rock and threw it at the thing, scoring a direct hit. He was sure it went 'bleah' before falling out of sight. "The wildlife's weird around here," he muttered.

"You're telling me," said Chip, "I can't even swat at bugs anymore with double-checking whether they're sentient or not."

Just then, the waitress brought them their food, which was a leg of mutton and some garlic bread for each of them. "They're really into...mutton...mmm...mutton," said Stephen, before digging in.

"I guess some parts can't be covered up so easily," said Chip, "Try to act a little civilized. And use your utensils, you've got thumbs you know." "Can't talk...eating," said Stephen.

--

Meanwhile, Ghoulwyrm had flapped over to the city wall, while simultaneously proving it's possible to fly with a limp.

"I...hate...everything," he said landing before being trodden on by a marine. He managed to make it to an alley and turned into an extremely bruised version of his disguise. "Grrrrrrr... I'll show those fools I'm more than capable of disabling these mortals," he growled, "Fear can be used more than one way." Suddenly, his stomach growled loudly. "But first, I need a little nourishment."

He wandered down the street and as a result overheard two dragons talking. "I'm telling you, if any more humans turn up we won't have enough food to support them. Thank the Chronicler they don't eat mutton as much," said one.

"Mmm... mutton..." muttered Ghoulwyrm, his jaws drooling at the mere thought of it, "So, these dragons farm sheep, do they? How convenient."

There was a zapping noise round the corner and a swearword that made Ghoulwyrm pause. A second later, Matt walked round the corner, smoking gently. "I hate storms," said Matt as Spyro walked round the corner behind him. The rain had already started to fall and while it was helping Spyro it was just making Matt more conductive. "Spyro? Is it possible I upset the Fates somehow?" he asked.

Ghoulwyrm watched the black wash off of Spyro, revealing purple scales underneath. "So I was mistaken about that dragon," said Ghoulwyrm, "How fortunate that was cleared up before I made my attack."

Another lightning bolt earthed on Matt, making him judder. "Urk. WHY???" said Matt, yelling up at the clouds.

Ghoulwyrm chuckled to himself. "At least the storm my portal's made is causing a little misery," he said to himself, "Now to find dinner." Ghoulwyrm quite literally followed his nose. He didn't want to buy or wait for his food so followed the smell down to an area in a park-like area of the city. There were a good few dozen sheep herds were scattered around. Ghoulwyrm grinned to himself and said, "I guess I'll play the wolf in sheep's clothing." He turned invisible and started sneaking up the closest group of lambs.

--

The next day, and Matt woke up in his quarters to see the rain still going. Luckily the lightning had stopped for now. "What is it with the weather today?" he muttered. He walked to the mess hall to see NegaMorph mulling over his breakfast. The poor NegaMorph was bleached again. "You feeling well? You look pale," Matt said.

NegaMorph growled and said, "I can't regenerate my skin color for some reason. How is it that I can survive being chopped into bits, but I can't get back my old skin? And that lousy stealth paint's practically like watercolors." "It's for starships, not many rainstorms in space," said Matt. The door opened and Spyro came in. NegaMorph took one look and smirked, "At least I'm not alone."

"Grr, I can't believe this," grumbled Spyro, his skin as black as it was yesterday. "I thought the rain had washed this stuff off." Matt looked between the two and had an idea. "Hold on. I think I know what's going on. Spyro...hold still," said Matt and threw a plasma ball at him, just as Cynder came in.

Cynder saw Spyro's paw fly across the room. "Matt! Have you gone mad?!" she screamed.

"Uh, guys..." said NegaMorph as he pointed at Spyro's paw, which scuttled back over to Spyro and reattached itself.

Spyro was looking the most shocked. "Erm..." he managed before fainting...but who could blame him?

NegaMorph grabbed him. "GIVE ME BACK MY POWERS, YOU LITTLE PURPLE TWIT!" he yelled

"Will you calm down, NegaMorph?" said Cynder.

"That's easy for you to say," said NegaMorph, "Your powers are all together. I'm as vulnerable as a crab during molting season." Matt smirked. "Oh, how tempting," he said as Spyro came round. "Uh...Cynder. I had the weirdest dream," he said.

"If it was about you siphoning my powers and color scheme, it's no dream," said NegaMorph, "Why couldn't I get something from you?" "Oh stop complaining, blob boy," said Matt. "Maybe Lao can take a look?"

--

Lao looked at Spyro. "Hmm...definitely NegaMorph's DNA. It seems you and Morph's regeneration comes from Symbiote DNA...and like the lifeform, the ability was washed off and 'bonded' to the closest lifeform in the chamber...Mr. Spyro in fact."

"Well, that explains how he got it," said NegaMorph, "Now how do we get my skin back where it belongs?" "Oh, your body has the original DNA. It'll regenerate as soon as your body has the sufficient DNA amount, another day at most. As for Spyro, it'll come off eventually, unless you want sonic treatment, though it might damage your hearing," said Lao. "Oh, goody," grumbled NegaMorph, "If anyone needs me, I'll be looking for a giant sea shell to hide in."

"Oh, shut up, NegaMorph. I have body armor you can use," said Matt, cheerfully. "Oh, I suppose you ones that come with three legs and asymmetrical amounts of arms?" said NegaMorph sarcastically. "There's no helping some people, usually people don't even get close enough to hit you," said said, "But what about Spyro? He can't go around like this."

"Actually, I think some basic Symbiote shapeshifting abilities got transferred as well," said Lao, "I'm not saying he can switch forms, but he may be capable of a camouflage alteration." "Worth a try, Nega, how did you do your tricks?" said Matt.

There was a knock at the door at that point. "Matt? We need to tal," said Smoldron's voice, causing a group panic. "I can't let anyone see me like this," said NegaMorph, "I've got a terrifying reputation and I don't want it caving in on me."

"You? I look like a male version of Cynder," said Spyro, prompting Cynder to snicker. "I'll stall him." said Matt. Lao began, "Surely we can just explain..." and was walked back nervously from the glares.

Matt opened the door, in dragon form, blocking the view with his wings. "Smoldron...wassup dude?" he said desperately.

"There's been a rather disturbing discovery made this morning," said Smoldron, "We've found... Is there something going on in there?" "No...what do you say that? Nothing's going on. YOUCANPROVENOTHING!" said Matt, sounding hysterical by the end.

Smoldron looked suspiciously at Matt and said, "You know, Sonya did describe you as being rather odd at times. I'm wondering just how accurate that statement is." "NO, YOU CAN'T COME IN!" gibbered Matt, looking a bit glassy eyed from internal panic. He apparently was hearing something else.

"Erm...ok. Maybe I should just go in and see for myself," said Smoldron as he tried to walk past Matt.

Matt jumped in front of Smoldron. "NOOO...I mean...you can't. Lao is doing something secret," he said.

--

Meanwhile, Spyro was desperately trying to change to his normal color, but he kept changing to wrong ones. He turned blue, then yellow, then orange, then somehow plaid. NegaMorph said, "Try and picture what you looked like..." desperately, overhearing Matt as he started talking to Smoldron...and inevitably began to panic by the sounds of things.

Spyro focused again and his body turned purple. He sighed with relief until he noticed he was purple where he wasn't supposed to be. "Ah nuts, try again, dammit, didn't Matt ever take photo's when he was last here? It's the sorta dumb thing he'd do," said NegaMorph.

"Here," said Cynder as she showed Spyro a photo she had been keeping under her color. Spyro glanced at it and shifted to the correct color scheme. "Ok, he's fixed, now how about me?" said NegaMorph.

Lao shrugged. "Say you're cold?" he said as Smoldron finally pushed past Matt.

"What? NegaMorph's white? That's why you didn't want me to come in?" he said, looking at Matt in confusion. "Hey, it's the opposite color of what I'm supposed to be," said NegaMorph, "Would you want someone spotting you with green skin?"

"So... what was it you came to tell us?" asked Matt. "Several sheep from our flock disappeared last night," said Smoldron. "So? That's all?" said Matt before seeing Spyro's and Cynder's faces. "It IS a big deal?" he said confused. "Well, we keep sheep so don't eat anything that might be sentient," said Spyro.

"But I'm more concerned as how they would disappear inside a city," said Cynder. Matt said, "Because someone ate them?".

"Matt, this is serious," said Smoldron, "Food's short enough already with you humans here. If the dragons start thinking you fleeced their sheep, they may respond in kind." "Any clues as to what caused them to go poof?" asked NegaMorph. "No...nothing...half a dozen vanished overnight," said Smoldron. "Maybe they were abducted by aliens," joked Matt. The others gave him an odd look. "What? They do the same with cows back on Earth."

--

Outside, it was clear from the dirty looks a few dragons were sending that rumors were already bouncing around the city. It would just take one stupid comment to start a fight. "Doesn't anyone else think it's a little silly to be so worked up over sheep?" asked Techo. "Remember when Draco thought Chris had stolen his coconut cake?" said Contrinus.

"Yeah...thank god you're not like that...Chloe?" said Matt, looking over to see Chip having his head bounced off a wall. "NEVER TOUCH MY WEETABIX!" she was yelling. "...Ok then," he said slowly

"Well, they're not in the catacombs. I've checked," said NegaMorph's voice. Matt turned and saw that NegaMorph was curled up in a colossal snail's shell with his head, arms, and legs sticking out. "Ok...first...why? Second...How?" he said, rubbing his head.

"There are a lot of big snails underground," said NegaMorph, "I thought that until I can my regeneration powers back, I can hollow up inside one of these. By the way, escargot's delicious."

"No...Out the shell," said Matt, more or less at the end of his patience. "Spoilsport," grumbled NegaMorph as he crawled out of the shell, "And I was just getting the den set up too."

Just then, a strange dragon walked by. His scales were primarily grey in color, but his spines, underbelly, and spots were purple. His wing membrane, in contrast, was a beige color. He also had a rather gaunt face with sunken eyes, though he look rather well-fed. He seemed fine till he turned to see the group and stopped, looking like he'd seen a ghost. "Urk," he said.

Matt looked at the others. "We're not that scary, are we?" "Well, NegaMorph here practically looks like the ghost of some poor lab experiment," said Chloe. "Oh ha, ha," said NegaMorph sardonically, "If I was a ghost, I'd be haunting your dreams now." The dragon gulped. "What ghost? I don't see any ghost," he said, looking around wildly. "Easy there," said Chloe, "There's no such thing as ghosts." Wrong," said Matt, earning a glare from Chloe.

"Least Ghoulwyrm isn't here. I could do with the stress relief now Neilsson's here," said Chloe. "Heh, like he'd be so stupid as to show his butt-ugly face around here," said Techo, "I mean, if I were him, I'd get a big mask to cover that head of his. What kind of warped freak would look at that puss and not want to throw up?"

To their surprise the dragon looked offended. "HEY!" he said before looking terrified. "What? You've never met the guy. He's the most creepy..." began matt and the dragon started to look proud until Matt continued "...and incompetent villain I've met."

The dragon gave an angry growl and stormed up. "What's with that guy?" asked Chloe. "This place sure does attract a lot of weirdos," said NegaMorph. "Yeah, you would know," said Matt smirking. The smirk was wiped off when NegaMorph tried to shove him into his snail shell.

Ghoulwyrm stomped round a corner before realizing he'd been a foot from his sworn enemies without being recognized. "Damn, I'm good," he said, looking at his disguise. "And might I add that I'm pretty darn good-looking," he added, glancing into a window. He nearly freaked out when he saw that it was his true form reflected. "Hey, get it right!" he hissed. The reflection sulked before changing to resembled Ghoulwyrm's current form.

"Silly mirror fiends," grumbled Ghoulwyrm, "They can make such aggravating familiars." An image of a hand flipping the bird briefly appeared. "...and they're cheeky," muttered Ghoulwyrm. He looked out, sensing the tension in the air. "One day here and already they're an inch from killing each other."

Ghoulwyrm looked thoughtful and said, "You know, nothing really gets someone cranky than being deprived a good night's sleep. And I think it's really hard to sleep through a haunting."

--

A little later and Ghoulwyrm, in his proper form slipped into Matt's room. "Might as well make a star..." he began before a blast hit him in the face. For a second, he thought he'd been runbled, till he saw Matt was still asleep. "zzzz...for the last time, Morph...put down the trumpet...zzzz." mumbled Matt before throwing a plasma ball at the waste paper bin.

"Nothing's worse than bad sleep habits," muttered Ghoulwyrm, "Oh well, may as play Nosferatu with his sister." Sadly, Chloe was worse. It seemed some small part of Silvia was left. In this case, a near-homicidal reaction to rude awakenings as Ghoulwyrm learned 0.7 seconds after accidently waking her.

"Ok...note...Chloe is a light sleeper," he groaned.

--

Later, most of the city woke up with complaints of bad dreams. A very large amount couldn't get enough sleep last night. And to make matters worse, another bunch of sheep disappeared.

Matt woke up yawning and got a bit of a shock of his own. A scream from Chloe's room confirmed she'd had similar. "OK...who's been smegging with our eyes?" he said, when he and Chloe came in. Their eyes were definitely a different color, now the color corresponding to their dragon forms.

"Ugh, I'm still as pale as a sheep," groaned NegaMorph as he walked in. "Morning Matt. Hey Chloe, neat contacts, yellow makes you look wild."

"Hey..." said Matt. "These are not contacts," said Chloe, sighing. "I had a weird dream .I dreamt I beat up Ghoulwyrm." "Sounds like a good dream to me," said Matt. "Yeah, I managed to twist three knots in his neck before he escaped," said Chloe happily.

Just then, Smoldron walked in, bags underneath his eyes. "Boy, you look like you had a rotten sleep. Couldn't count enough sheep?" asked Matt, earning him a jab in the gut from Chloe. "No, I've been having nightmares all night long. The whole city seems to be suffering them." "What kind of nightmares?" said Chloe.

"Mostly ones involving monsters," said Smoldron, "Zombies and ghouls in particular. Anyways, everyone's pretty edgy today so I'd be careful." "Ok, thanks for the warning, and how is Xypros today? Have him and Neilsson attacked each other yet?" asked Matt sarcastically.

"Uh... not quite," said Smoldron.

NegaMorph looked out the window and said excitedly, "Hey, it's Angry Mob Day. I'll go get my megaphone." Everyone stopped and ran to the window to see several dozen young dragons led by Xyphros outside. The odd grey dragon from yesterday was marching besides him. "Shall I nail up the holiday boards?" asked NegaMorph.

"No, let's try talking. It's too early for explosions," said Matt. The group, with Smoldron walked out of the ship to face the crowd. The glares were horrible but were intensified at Smoldron. "Ok...is there a reason for this?" said Matt, calmly. "You've been poaching our sheep!" yelled one of the dragons.

"Bull. I don't even like mutton that much," said Matt.

"I demand proof before you convict us!" said NegaMorph, "Sure, blame me if you can, but at least have some reason behind it."

Xypros pointed to the dragon next to him, "He saw you." "Don't be ridiculous," said NegaMorph, "I've never seen a live sheep in my life. I much more prefer them as hamburgers or ribs."

"Those are cows, you dolt," said Chloe. "See? I don't even know what a sheep is!" "Stop lying. I saw your men taking the sheep," said the grey dragon. Matt glared and took a step forward, stopping as Chloe grabbed him. "Not helping," she muttered. "You know, just saying you saw us doesn't hold up as much evidence," said Techo, "You need concrete proof."

"Huh...and you, Smoldron...why are you siding with them?" said Xyphros, looking at Smoldron. "Why shouldn't I?" said Smoldron, "They say that they didn't do it and you can't truly prove they did." Xyphros glared before turning to leave. "Hey, Xyphos, we didn't do it," said Matt and was simply ignored.

--

The gang met up with Spyro, Cynder, Flame and Ember. "I dunno what got into him, but I bet it's something to do with that grey dragon following him around," said Matt, icily. "Yeah, that guy's a pretty weird-looking one," said Chloe, "Have any of you seen him before?"

"No, never. I knew everyone at the hatchery and I don't know him," said Flame. "Something about him definitely smells phony," said Ember. "And weird..." said Flame, "He smells like he's dead." Matt thought for a second and said, "Say, you don't think he's..." "Don't be silly," said Chloe, "Undead dragons don't just pop out of the ground…Well, they do, but not frequently." "Yeah..." said Matt uncertainly.

--

Later, the group decided to try to find Xyhpros' new friend. Undead or not, they wanted to know where he got his accusations. They bumped into him talking to Xyphros. They couldn't see his face but Xyphros looked completely out of it. "Hey, creepy," said Matt.

The dragon turned and looked at them. "Ah, the poachers are back," he said.

"Hey buddy, there's something rotten about your story," said Chloe, "And I don't mean the teeth they're coming through." "Please, Xyphros doesn't wish to hear your lies," said the dragon in a voice dripping with honey.

"Oh please," said Cynder, "I bet you haven't even told him your name." "I don't need too. Why don't you shut up?" said the grey dragon. "Ok, I can handle having my name dragged through mud," said Matt, "But I don't like smug people who know nothing about what they say being rude to my friends."

"Oh, shut up, captain," said the dragon and ducked as Matt lost it and took a pot shot.

Chloe, Techo, and NegaMorph had to hold Matt back when he tried to grab the dragon by the throat, spouting many untranslatable words at him. The dragon smirked. "See, what I mean, Xyphros?" he said.

"Getting Matt steamed up so he'd look bad?" asked Spyro, "Is that the best you can do?"

"True," said the dragon, "Maybe I can mess up your makeup too."

Before anyone could stop him, the grey dragon sent out a blast of mauve energy that hit Spyro, turning him black again. "Um, this isn't what it looks like?" said Spyro. "But it is..." said the grey dragon.

Xyphros glared at the group and said, "I might have known that you were practicing dark magic."

"Since when is changing skin color considered dark magic?" said Chloe.

Xyphros flew off before anyone could stop him. "You know...I think we're in trouble," said Matt

"I don't mind being on the lam again," said NegaMorph, "But first I'd like to strangle that little- Where did he go?" NegaMorph looked around for the grey dragon that disappeared. Indeed, the grey dragon had done a Houdini and vanished into thin air.

"Forget him. We gonna grab Xyphros before this gets worse," said Matt. "You'd think he'd listen to us?" said Chip, now studying a map of Avalar, "Hmm, the Valley sounds like a nice place to hide." "No...what about Stephen...and Ardanos? They dunno this is gonna hit em," said Chloe "Good point," said Techo, "You think we can leave Neilsson off that list?" "Sadly no, he has a habit of coming back to haunt us," said Chloe.

"Well, we better get to him first," said Contrinus, "With his personality, he'd probably be at the top of the lynching list. Er, no pun intended." The group headed in the direction that Xyphros had gone, sadly missing Ghoulwyrm shimmering back into view and giving a sigh of relief. "Too close..."

As they were chasing after Xyphros, NegaMorph was commenting, "When they get Neilsson, I bet they'll tar and feather him first. Oh, of all the times to forget my camera." "Do they tar and feather here?" said Matt to Flame, more curious then concerned. "That depends," said Flame, "What's tar?"

"That's a no." said Chloe, as the building that Neilsson had claimed at a HQ came into view. Xyphros was already there. Unfortunately, he had brought along a lot of a bunch of angry dragon citizens with him. "Oh boy," said Spyro, "We better break this up before it gets real ugly on both sides."

As they got closer they saw at least two dozen NSC troopers, led by Stephen, stood blocking the way in, wearing riot gear. This looked like it was quickly getting bad. "Flame, Ember, go get the Elders. We might need help if this turns uglier," said Chloe, before the others walked into view.

"Now listen people," called Chloe, "There's a nonviolent way to settle this..." She was interrupted when a stray fireball missed her head and caught her hair on fire. Matt glared and yelled "WHO DID THAT?!!!!" in such a way that even the marines looked nervous. "I mean it...Own up, right now!" Matt said.

"You can't possibly be taking his threats seriously," said the grey dragon, "He's only human."

Matt stopped as this started to dawn on the dragons and they glared at him. "I'm warning you...I am trained in the art of butt whup." He said nervously.

Suddenly, an earth dragon spat a large rock at Matt, which hit him in the chest and pinned him to the ground. "...Ouch..." said Matt as the other dragons began heading for both Stephen and his men and the gang. They hesitated upon seeing Spyro and Cynder however.

"You shall not stop us," said the grey dragon, "Those men are guilty." "Oh please," said Cynder, "You've only your word to go on, and I don't think it's worth much. As far as anyone knows, it was you who took those sheep."

The grey dragon glared. "You don't know that." he said, before looking at Xyphros, his eyes glowing purple. "Kill them," he said in an echoing voice that confirmed the gang's suspicions.

"No...No...it's not fair," said Matt, catching on to the grey dragons identity.

"You know, I've had enough of your smart mouth," said NegaMorph to the grey dragon. "What are you going to do about?" said the dragon, "Take me for a spin around the block?" "Good idea," said NegaMorph before grabbed the dragon's hind legs and started spinning around.

Everyone watched in horror as NegaMorph let go and the dragon went...splat against a wall. "You killed him!" squeaked a young ice dragon in horror. "Oh come on," said NegaMorph, "I'm sure he's fine. He'll just need a band-aid and he'll be as good as new." The dragons growled, one saying, "Dragon slayer…" which seemed to work them into a worse fury...till they saw the apparently dead dragon getting up, a huge gash of missing skin where he'd hit the wall.

"You clumsy idiot!" shouted the dragon, "Why can't you shoot straight? I could have lost a limb with that... What? What are you all staring at?" "I don't know about them," said NegaMorph, "But I think I'm staring at a torn-up mask." He grabbed the dragon's face and pulled hard, causing the skin to rip off from the neck up.

The form that appeared freaked out almost all the dragons minus a few that had similar glowing eyes to Xyphros. "Ghoulwyrm, I thought so as soon as I saw your eye trick," said Matt, angrily. Most of Stephen's men had ran into the building to make sure Ghoulwyrm didn't try to get inside the HQ but Stephen had stayed outside.

"Oh, dread," said Ghoulwyrm, "My disguise is blown. I guess I won't need the rest of this skin then." His body bulged until his forelimbs ripped apart to reveal very long arms covered with bandages with long spikes at the double elbows. The wings on his back fell off as lightning rods popped out. The skin on the other side revealed to be nothing but bandages.

The group backed off as Ghoulwyrm shook himself. "Much better. Well, what to do now you all know, might as well start off this little war Lord Malefor wanted." He turned to the enthralled Xyphros and the other dragons. "Kill em slow."

The group of dragons approached the group growling angrily. "Vampire hypnotism," said Matt, "You know I hate it." "Well, I'd like to stay and fight," said NegaMorph, "But seeing as how I can tear but not mend now..." He quickly dove back into his snail shell.

"You coward!" shouted Chip, "Wait for me!" He jumped into the shell after him and shortly afterwards said, "Say, nice den you've got here." Matt dodged the first dragon lunging at him and clocked it across the back of the head, knocking it out. "We can't fight these guys proper. It's not their fault," said Chloe, zapping a earth dragoness with a low level lightning bolt.

"Say guys," said Flame, "Is it me or are their teeth sharper than normal?" Matt turned to see Flame. "I thought you were going to go get the Elders!" he yelled, before being tackled by Xyphros. Flame was right. The wind dragon's canines looked alot like fangs now and his eyes looked bloodshot under the purple glow.

"I just wanted to help," said Flame as he avoided being bitten by a lightning dragon, "I do need to make up for that Red incident." "Uh, I'm too concerned about being torn to pieces to care about his insubordination," said Contrinus as she tried to stay out of reach, "Is that ok with everyone?"

"You can't possibly defeat me," said Ghoulwyrm, "I hold the tide of battle here. I have the indisputable advantage. You were all doomed from the start. And by the way, I threw that fireball" Chloe was really miffed with the temporary combustion of hair, but now she was furious.

"Will...you...shut...UUUUUUUUPPPP?!?" she screamed, releasing a humongous voltage of electricity in all directions as she roared. The blast knocked almost all the thralls to the ground, them in the process. It also almost flash fried everyone else, Spyro being ok thanks to his current predicament and the others thanks to being able to duck into alleys and open houses.

Of course, NegaMorph's shell got the brunt of the attack. When it had passed over, it was completely burnt black. But then it crumbled into a pile of ash. NegaMorph and Chip were alright, but clearly miffed. "Oh man," said NegaMorph, "I had just gotten the TV set up."

Ghoulwyrm got up to see that the blast had shifted Chloe to dragon form and she looked severely pissed off. "Not bad," said Ghoulwyrm, "But you're not the only with the power of lightning." His lightning rods charged up with purple electricity. Then his long arm stretched out and delivered a thunderpunch to her face. The blast and the blow knocked several feet away, out cold. "Now then," said Ghoulwyrm, "I think I'm overdue to a helping of virgin blood."

He was about to bite into her throat when he heard a cry of "NOOO!" and a negative energy blast hit him in the spine. Ghoulwyrm looked back to see NegaMorph with his hand-mouth still smoking from the blast he shot. "I may be vulnerable," said NegaMorph, "But I'll be damned if I let someone die because of my cowardice. It's you and me now, Glowworm."

"You're going to regret calling me that," said Ghoulwyrm as he flexed his claws. Matt got up to see Ghoulwyrm and NegaMorph charge each other. "...Ow," he said, before seeing the 360 degree scorch marks around the place. "What happened?" he said as the others ran over.

"Oh, NegaMorph just did something very brave and foolish," said Chip. "But admirable," said Contrinus.

"Didn't say it wasn't," said Chip. Stephen looked over at the two. "Who the hell is that guy? he asked. "An undead dragon we met in Wyoming. What fun that day was," said Matt sarcastically. "Why does he look me then?" asked Stephen. "Because he was Echidra's first attempt at making a dracopyre," said Chip, "Of course, she botched it a bit and now he's a dracolich too." "Though wouldn't he have had to have been a little dead already?" wondered Matt.

"Maybe I can take him on," said Stephen. "Uh, I think you'll have to wait your turn," said Cynder.

Meanwhile, the fight between Ghoulwyrm and NegaMorph was getting really violent. "Come here, little cretin," said Ghoulwyrm as he grabbed NegaMorph with both hands.

"You want a piece of me?" shouted NegaMorph, "You want a piece?!" "No," said Ghoulwyrm and ripped NegaMorph in half, "I want two." Matt and Chloe jumped up in horror and anger mixed, readying their own blasts to throw at him. "This has gone far enough," said Spyro as he charged Ghoulwyrm and bashed him in the shin.

Ghoulwyrm snarled and sent a slash at Spyro's throat, connecting. Therefore he was shocked when the cut he'd torn healed up almost as fast as he'd made it. "Hey...no fair," he said. Then Spyro spat out fire at Ghoulwyrm. Ghoulwyrm batted it out and said, "You call that fire? This is fire." He opened his mouth and breathed out purple flames at Spyro.

Again, Spyro healed up almost as fast as he was burnt. "Stop doing that! That's the freak blob's trick," said Ghoulwyrm, now quite annoyed Then Ghoulwyrm noticed NegaMorph's pale skin, which somehow looked paler as his body was futilely trying to put itself together. "Oh, I get it," said Ghoulwyrm, "He lent you his rip and fix trick. But I know how to deal with that." His muzzle split four ways and he unleashed a deafening wave of sonic energy.

Spyro yelled in pain and the black coloring seemed to quiver before falling away, leaving Syro in his normal purple form. "Now then, let's try again, shall we? I tear your throat out...then you die...easy, no?" said Ghoulwyrm blasting Cynder as she lunged at him.

Suddenly, a blast of green lightning hit Ghoulwyrm. "Who threw that?" demanded Ghoulwyrm.

"I think it's time you pick on someone your own size," said Stephen. "And that would be you?" said Ghoulwyrm as he batted Techo and Wilson away. Matt and Chloe smirked at each other. "Long Aim? Have fun," said Matt before he, Flame and Chloe ran over to help the others.

"You really think a puny human's any match for me?" said Ghoulwyrm. "Oh, I'm not just a puny human," said Stephen as he pulled down his shirt collar. He hit the device on his neck and there was a bright flash of green light. When it cleared, Stephen had become a wyvern-like creature somewhat like Ghoulwyrm, only with green scales, no monster parts, and a blue and black uniform.

"Oh come on. I already have two half-dragon enemies," he said before smirking. "Heh, it's not like you'll be very fast like that," he said before sending out a lightning bolt. Stephen surprised Ghoulwyrm by ducking the blast and hitting Ghoulwyrm in the chest with his tail. Ghoulwyrm was knocked backwards, but hardly hurt. "You're going to have to a lot better than that, sonny," said Ghoulwyrm.

"Fine," snarled Stephen, sending out a blast of green fire into Ghoulwyrm's face. Ghoulwyrm yawned and batted the fire back. "Get real, kid," said Ghoulwyrm, "I know every possible move a Dracon can do. You stand as much of a chance as the rest of them."

Stephen hissed, opened his mouth, and let out an ear-breaking screech that was almost unhearable.

Ghoulwyrm winced in pain and said, "What? How did you do that? That can't be done with a Dracon throat."

"He's not just a Dracon," said Chip, "He's Echidra's latest design for her dracopyre army. Of course, he turned against her, but he didn't croak in the end. And you know what that means? You're obsolete!"

Ghoulwyrm's eyes glowed purple. "NO! I AM SUPERIOR! NOT SOME MERCENARY COME LATELY!" he roared and lunged at Stephen.

"Uh, let's let them deal with this for a bit," said Matt. "Ok," said NegaMorph, "By the way, can someone get me a bag of ice? Or a tourniquet?" The black covering was slowly slithering back to NegaMorph, already over his lower half. "Don't think you need it," said Chloe.

The two dracopyres were locked in a pushing contest, though neither side was winning. Stephen seemed to have the most physical strength, but Ghoulwyrm was currently being fueled by jealousy and rage.

Suddenly four roars were heard in the distance, the Elders were coming. "Hey, Ghouly...you're in trouble!" called Matt, helping Spyro up. "You ok?" he asked

"What?" asked Spyro, "I can't hear you over the ringing! Boy, do I have an earache." "He'll be fine," said Chloe to Cynder, who looked relieved. The Elders came into view just as two Sparrowhawks from the Warlock came into view from the other direction. "Ghoulwyrm, however, will be another story," finished Contrinus as she healed Spyro's hearing.

Ghoulwyrm growled and said, "This is not over. Not by a long shot." He faded away, leaving Stephen to fall forward. The Elders landed and looked at Stephen. So this is the creature," said Zara.

"No, he just legged it." said Matt.

"You have proof of this?" asked Cyril. "Well, not quite," said Chip, "I would have taken a picture, but vampires don't have reflections." Flame nodded. "It's true. We all saw him. He was controlling Xyphros and several other dragons. Ask him," he said, as Xyphros stirred with a groan.

"Ugh, what happened?" asked Xyphros, "Last I remember was a pair of purple eyes in a skull-like head and now I feel like I've been hit by a lightning storm." "Erm....that was me," said Chloe, sheepishly.

"And by the way, he was the one who poached your sheep," said NegaMorph, now fully back together and all black again. "How do you know?" said Ember. "Pretty obvious, isn't it? Besides, I found in his mouth." NegaMorph held a large chuck of very soggy-looking wool.

"You know, I don't even WANT to know how you got that," said Matt, gloomily.

"I'm pretty sure a DNA test can confirm whom this saliva comes from," said NegaMorph, "Anyone got a plastic bag?" "No..." said Matt, "Let's just take this as it appears." Chloe nodded. "Least we know he'll be in deep trouble," she said.

--

Malefor was less than pleased when Ghoulwyrm appeared. "Well, well," said Malefor, "It turns out you are just hot air after all." "No, I was unprepared for the appearance of another dracopyre. Give me another chance," he said. Anton and two super battle droids were behind Ghoulwyrm. "Want me to take the trash out?" said Anton, amused.

"Anton, old buddy," said Ghoulwyrm, "You wouldn't cast me out on my ear, would you?" "Hmm...the first time we met, I nearly died...so get lost, loser," said Anton. "I will not be packed off that easily," said Ghoulwyrm as he started charged his lightning rods.

Anton yawned and sent out a sonic blast into Ghoulwyrm's face, sending the dracopyre into a wall. Then he fired 6 more into his chest over and over. "If only he could be killed that easily," said Malefor wistfully, "It'd spare the world from his hideous appearance."

Ghoulwyrm glared at Malefor and said, "Well at least I'm well-preserved. Your flesh is flaking off the bones every day. I bet your eyeballs are getting ready to fall out." "I, unlike you, however can easily regain my body...by taking my enemies'," said Malefor, "Now get out of my sight." "You'll regret casting me out," said Ghoulwyrm, "Trust me, this will come back to haunt you sooner than you think."

"Do you ever shut up?" said Anton, "Your own mother wouldn't want to hear you yap. Not like she'd want a reject like you around." Ghoulwyrm snarled and flew out the hall. "Should I have the turrets blow him to fragments?" said Anton.

"He'd let them go through them," said Malefor, "Of course, it's not like he has anywhere else to go."

"Yes. I suppose...I am happy to report though that I located the Chakra blade...the soul destroyer," said Anton, disappointed a bit.

--

Meanwhile, Chloe was still a little shellshocked from that blast she sent out. "I'm sure that was a fury attack," she said, "That means I'm getting more and more like a dragon. How much of the original me is left?"

"There, there," said NegaMorph, "It doesn't matter what you are so much as who you are."

"No...I remember what happened in Ballan. It could happen again," said Chloe.

"I think that was a completely different scenario," said NegaMorph, "Then again, I was dead at the time. Of course there are a couple of other things to consider." "Like what?" said Chloe.

"Matt's possible fury. He and Techo are discussing what it might be like." "Oh boy..." said Chloe, visualizing a mushroom cloud. "Erm...did they work out the second riddle yet? What was it..._'Seek out the gateway to eternity'_?

"Clear as mud to me," said NegaMorph, "Couldn't they put something like, I don't know, 'the skull's cave' or 'the twisted forest'?" "Ok...not everyone has Chip powers to access the hacked satellites," said Chloe.

"Didn't need to, it's talking about whatever portal the Ancients used to get here. It's there," said NegaMorph. "Great...wonder what we'll find there this time?" muttered Chloe.

--

Ghoulwyrm flew through the wastelands, muttering nastily. "Throw me out, will he? After all I've done." he muttered, landing in a circle of ruined Atlantean buildings. He became intangible and sank down through the ground, continuing to mutter to himself. "Those other fools must failed him dozens of times, but he still keeps them around. But I make one slip-up and he tosses me out."

He came out at the bottom of a shaft. Pieces of crystal were scattered around the bottom of it, where something had smashed. However, he could sense great power inside these crystals. Not only that, he could sense a dormant consciousness in them as well.

Ghoulwyrm grinned to himself, "They'll all regret dismissing me. They're soon going to realize that was a big mistake. A big, fatal mistake." He homed in on the piece where the consciousness was emanating. "And I'll make a start with this guy...whoever he is," said Ghoulwyrm, before opening a portal.

--

**Oh dear. Looks like Reds been found…sadly that's the last we'll see of Red for a bit. Stephen and Ghoulwyrm are property of my co-auther, Cydra and appear in his stories**

**Now another Chakra device is located, the race is on to get it first…tune in next time.**

**--**

**Villains**

**Name: Ghoulwyrm: **

**First appearance: 'Omnitrix Ordeal' **

**He is a Mythiconian dragon turned undead. He is quite skilled at Necromancy and also various dark magic. He also has some vampirism aspects built in. He was originally imprisoned by the atlantean empire for his role in their fall until Matt n co accidently released him from the ancient facility located in Wyoming, Earth. Since then he has crossed paths with the mercenaries many times…**

**Name: Stephen 'Long Aim' Verdent**

**First Appearance: Trogs and Wristbands**

**A young man who had the misfortune of attracting the attention of the necromancress Echidra. She kidnapped him and performed vile experiments that left him a reptilian dracopyre with a Mysticos Dracon as a base for his form. He has learned to control his new body by extensive training on Mysticos but still bears his new curse.**


	12. Past Imperfect pt 1

**Spyro, Cynder, and all other Spyro related characters are property of Sierra studios. **

**Draco, Contrinus, Chip and Cydra are property of my co-author, Cydra. **

**Matt, his merc team, the NSC and related tech, the ancients/atlanteans and malefors dragon generals are mine.**

**CPS Chronicles: Forgotten Blood**

**Chapter 11: Past Imperfect pt 1**

The location of the second Chakra device, possibly the most dangerous of the trio, was what had probably been the original portal between Atlantis and Avalar. A vast arch surrounded by dozens of support buildings that were all still brand new thanks the many repair drones that patrolled it was an impressive sight to any newcomer.

Today however it was a battleground between antons droids and Matt's crew. Above the facility, Avarona and Shard fought Spyro and Cynder, while in what had been the main control center, Matt and Chloe were locked in a fight with Tuatara and Anton, who had the device everyone wanted. "I'd put down that sword if I were you," said Matt as he dodged a slash from Tuatara, "You could put someone's eye out with that."

Anton smirked. "Yeah...I know...did you know this isn't a real blade?" he said and pressed a hidden trigger on the handle. An arc of black lightning shot out, nearly hitting Chloe and burning a hole in the wall.

"I'm quite familiar with what it can do," said Chloe, "And leaving it in your hands is just plain stupid." Anton sighed. "I have more experience then you." he said, pulling out his own ion blade in time to block Chloe's slash before sonic blasting her down. Matt would have assisted his sister, if he wasn't busy avoiding the missiles that Tuatara was launching at him, and he didn't mean just his fists.

"I will feast on your flesh." hissed the cybernetic lizard. "You sure? You look like you need to diet." said Matt, dodging as Tuatara opened fire with his wrist blasters. "Besides, I don't think you have a stomach anymore," said Matt, "You don't want me jamming up your gears." Tuatara snarled and lunged at Matt, who sidestepped to reveal the hole Anton had burnt. Tuatara tried to stop and balanced on the edge. "Nice try, pack traitor..." he said, turning to meet Matt's foot coming the other way, overbalancing the cyborg and sending him over the edge.

"I always wanted to do something like that," said Matt as he looked down to see Tuatara falling towards the ground. Tuatara's landing resulted in quite a large crater. "Uurrgh!" He groaned. "Nothing like throwing out the trash." Matt said before turning towards Anton, jumping on his back and forcing the guys helmet down over his head. "Guess who." he said.

"Get off me, you parasite!" yelled Anton as he swung his blade around aimlessly. Matt started hitting Anton on the head. The helmet made sure that all this did was cause an annoying ringing for Anton. "I...SAID...OFF!" yelled Anton, throwing Matt over his shoulder and into a set of panels with a crash. He slid off, leaving several sparking controls and the rest all lit up.

The fighting trio paid no attention, too intent on getting the Chakra device but outside was a different story as the arch began to light up.

--

_System activated...Target: Homeworld._

_Warning...temporal stabilizers degraded...activate emergency shutdown at once._

--

NegaMorph, who has been fighting Devina, suddenly paused. "Uh, do you feel something in the air?" he asked. Devina stopped to see the space in the archway start to ripple like light shining underwater and discharges crackle in the centre. Avarona and Spyro had locked claws and were closest to it.

"Oh, this can't be good," said Chip, who was near one end of the archway, "Common sense dictates that I get a safe distance between myself and the portal." Cynder had also seen it too. "Spyro...look out." she called. Both Spyro and Avarona looked to see the archway space now glowing. At the same time several sirens began wailing which more or less was multiversal for 'Run away'.

As the portal started to form, Avarona got a nasty idea. "Well, it's been fighting, but you gotta go," she said. And with that, she tail-smacked Spyro towards the archway. Cynder could only watch as Spyro fell into the archway which rippled as he literally vanished, as if he'd fallen behind a curtain.

--

Matt and Anton were wrestling for the Chakra device when they stopped as they heard Cynders cry of anguish. Matt took this opportunity to nut Anton on the nose and smash the chakra device against the wall. To both their surprise, the sword shattered. "Well, I guess that's what happens when your 'ultimate weapon' is over 10,000 years old," said Matt.

Anton glared. "Dammit." he said before sending out a sonic pulse in all directions, wrecking the room in the process...his own fury, before transforming to dragon form and flying out the hole. "We're outta here." he called to the generals, looking at Avarona and Shard. "Keep em busy." "Warning," said the siren, "Temporal event detected. Deploying alternity shield now."

Before anyone could react, a half dome of translucent energy surrounded the area around the control center and the arch, just in time as everything beyond it literally whited out with a shrieking noise that dug into everyones brain via the ears.

When the light eventually faded, everyone was growing from the headaches they had. "Ugh, someone turn off the jackhammer," groaned Techo. Matt shook the stars from his vision to see that the view had altered. The once-pristine buildings behind the field were now ruins, the grass behind the building was now just a barren waste. The only thing still there was the Nighthawk, its reality shield flickering from where it had countered whatever had happened. Chip, however spotted two other additions.

"Guys, you're not going to believe this," said Chip as he stood over the unconscious bodies of Draco and Kala. Matts reaction was surprisingly to draw his sidearm. "Avarona was able to switch forms when I last met her." he said as Kala and Draco began to stir. They were about to see who was in charge.

"Ugh, anyone get the license of that sledgehammer?" asked Draco, "Hey guys, what's with the wrecked city?" Matt pressed the blaster into one of Draco's mouthes. "Whats the combination to the coffee vault? I know you keep getting chip to tell you it." he said, making it clear a wrong answer was a good way to get a terminal sore throat

"Er, 62102," said Draco. Matt nodded and transferred his aim to Kala. "Convince me you're not Avarona or die." he said. "How?" asked Kala. "Uh, tell me what we did together back at New York, and I mean the last time we were there." Kala motioned Matt closer and started whispering in his ear.

Matts expression seemed to set in granite as he listened, his gaze going so distant it could probably see the universes curvature. "You're Kala." he said numbly. The two were about to hug when they turned to see everyone listening. "Can we help you?" Kala said, so icily that Avarona could not have done better.

There was a quick chorus of "No! Nope! Nothing at all!" "Ok then," said Contrinus, "While I'm delighted to have my Draco back, can someone explain what the blitznak just happened?" Everyone looked at the teams resident clever people, Chip and Techo. Chip said. "Don't look at me." and Techo just shrugged. "Same...never seen this before."

"I don't care," said Cynder, "I just want Spyro back." "Uh, I don't know who you are," said Draco, "But don't you think we should worry about-" He was cut off when Cynder gave him a glare that couldn't have been more terrifying if she was her evil self. "Her, I like," said Kala. Matt smirked. "She kicks ass." he said. Wilson however said. "We don't have the gear here...not on the Nighthawk...we can come back here with the Warlock and heavy gear and get it done proper. Cynder said "But.." and was cut off by Techo. "It can be done right or done badly."

"Uh, guys," said Chip, "I'm not picking up the Warlock's signal. As a matter of fact, I can't pick any familiar signal except the Nighthawk's." "What about the defence grid?" said Matt. Chip shook his head. "No signals at all..." he said. "Smeg...what if Malefor attacked Warfang? We need to get back now." Chloe said.

"Then we better get flying," said Draco, "By the way, what's Warfang?" "Lets take the ship..." said Matt, simply.

--

It wasn't just near the facility that was changed. All the landscape was changed. Wasteland and dead areas. "Ok...maybe a meteor hit?" said Wilson, in a horrified voice while Techo sat at the comm panel, sending out generalized transmissions.

"We're coming close on Warfang now," said Techo, "Fortunately, what hit the other places didn't seem to affect this area so much." The area around Warfang was indeed apparently intact but the city was changed. The statues were different. "Cloak...NOW!" yelled Matt. Just in time too as the wall cannons fired. The now invisible Nighthawk was able to fly back out of range, undetected. "Ok...WHAT THE HELL?" yelled Matt.

"Uh, were those creepy spires always there?" asked Kala. Matt and company turned back to the screen. The ships bank had revealed that where the temple was, was now a rather creepy building that resembled Cynders old tower. "Ok...I say again...what's going on?" said Matt. "I haven't the foggiest idea," said Cynder, "But something tells me we should stay low." "Ok...anyone incapable of sprouting scales stays here." said Chloe before looking at Draco and adding "...and only one mouth."

When Matt and Chloe had transformed, they flew out towards the city. Cynder decided to stay behind because she was getting extremely bad vibes. The city definitely gave off those type of vibes in spades. There were still plenty of dragons around but they all seemed on edge. "Reminds me of the Empire capitol." said Chloe grimly.

"What I want to know is how did this happen," said Matt. "The capitol took years to get to this type of stage. This is impossible." said Chloe. A roar caused most of the dragons to scatter for buildings. "Ok...what the smeg?" said Matt.

The two of them looked up to see what looked like a purple Dracon with silver hair and wing membranes flying over the buildings. It looked very vaguely familiar, but Matt couldn't quite place it. The dracons gaze fell on the two. "I haven't seen you two before. What are your names?" he said in the tone of voice that the lynches were something adhered to his foot. That cinched it for Matt. "Ghoulwyrm?" he said, confused.

"Excuse me?' growled the Dracon. "Er, my brother's slightly confused," said Chloe, "He heard your name somewhere was Ghoulwyrm." "I see dead people." said Matt, by way of joining in. Chloe said. "He hit his head yesterday."

"Hmm, well, 'Ghoulwyrm' is the literal translation of 'Zyvar', and since he's clearly disorientated, I guess I can let it go this time. But now I must know who you are," said Zyvar. Chloe's brain went so fast to an idea that one psy-dragon watching actually fell over. "Silvia...my brothers called Draconus." she said, using Silvia's 'asking the emperor for funds' voice.

"Hmm... where have you two been living lately?" inquired Zyvar. "Erm...we've been travelling." said Chloe, now a hint of desperation in her voice. Zyvar did not look convinced. "And why have you come to Warfang?" Sadly, Matt's brain re-engaged its sarcasm at this point. "To see the wizard of Oz...why do you care?" he said, Chloe wincing behind him.

"The...Wizard?" asked Zyvar, sounding confused. "Yeah...now smeg off." said Matt. He and Chloe quickly ran off while Zyvar tried to work out what the wierd little blue dragon had said. The two dragons ran until they were several blocks away. "The Wizard of Oz? Is that the best you could think of?" asked Chloe. "Well, it worked," said Matt. Chloe looked up at what they were leaning against. "Uh oh...Matt? I found Spyro." she said slowly.

Matt looked up to see a large statue made of some kind of purple metal. It depicted two adult dragons, one that was instantly familiar and the other one looked vaguely familiar. "Okay... I'm pretty sure both Malefor and Ghoulwyrm were both undead when I last saw them," said Matt, "I can handle with them being fully alive, but an adult Spyro sided with Malefor?"

It was indeed how Matt had pictured Spyro as an adult. "This is bad." said Chloe. "What's so bad?" asked a voice. Matt looked over his shoulder and did an amazingly good impression of Sparx screaming. The scream was probably cause one of the statues occupants was now behind them in the flesh. Luckily it wasn't Malefor. "Sorry...you surprised us, erm..." said Chloe. It was clear Spyro did not remember them so she was sure to pause at the name.

"Spyro, I'm surprised you haven't heard of me," said Spyro. He looked at Chloe and Matt for a minute and said, "You know, you two look familiar, like if I had met you long ago." "Oh no...I'm sure we haven't" said Chloe in a smooth voice. "Like hell we haven't...OUCH!" said Matt, hopping as Chloe 'accidently' zapped his foot.

"You two are new to town, aren't you?" asked Spyro. "Well, let's say that a lot has changed since we've last been here," said Chloe. "I see," said Spyro, "Well, I'm in a good mood right now, perhaps I could show you around." Chloe shook her head. The last thing they needed was another run in with Ghoulwyrm who had probably worked out by now that he'd been duped. "I'm sorry...maybe another time." she said.

Spyro, apparently unused to be denied, said with a slightly darker tone, "I don't see why you shouldn't." Before Chloe could provide an excuse, a voice cried loudly, "HEY WAIT A MINUTE!!" Spyro looked over his shoulder and when he turned back, the Lynches had exited stage left, probably breaking several speed records in the process.

--

Matt nodded. "Yeah. Luckily Ghoulwyrms intellegence rating has dropped significantly otherwise we woulda been cooked." Chloe was more grim. "Its bad. He didn't reqognise us." Negamorph sighed, produced a mallet from his tech pack and started hitting himself with it. "Guys more like morph then he realises." said Matt After a minute, Negamorph stopped, looked around and said "Dammit, I'm still here."

"Sorry NegaMorph, but this isn't a dream," said Chloe. "It has to be," said NegaMorph, "Reality doesn't just warp in one minute." Techo had been going over readings with Chip while the Lynches had been gone. "It might...we'll need to see records in the city." Matt glared. "Great. We can just knock and ask Malefor if we can borrow his diary." he said, scathingly.

"Just a sec," said Chip, "We're pulling up what happened back at the ruins." The images were clearly from the outer camera's overlaid with lines of text from the sensors. Spyro and Avarona could be seen in the distance, the view zooming in just as Spyro was knocked through. The screen was suddenly blocked by the word 'Warning' in red capitols. More information followed, ending with the words 'Temporal re-write in progress'.

"Temporal re-write?" asked Contrinus, "Wait, that archway was a time portal?" "Probably not...it ws old...and I doubt those drones we saw are very technical orientated." said Techo. "But if the controls were addled enough, it could cause it to open a wormhole through both space and time," said Chip, "But what could have caused that?"

Chloe said. "Anton threw Matt into some kind of panel...we were kinda busy at the time though." "You caused that machine to send Spyro back in time?" growled Cynder. "Um, it was an accident?" said Matt. Cynder didn't think so, tackling Matt and aiming her tail blade at his face. "Cynder...I'm going to fix this if its the last thing I do." he said, deceptively calm though inside he was shaking with terror.

"Ok, so we got to go back and go through that portal," said Kala, "Then we'll need to fix whatever damage was done." "Funny, this is the sort of thing you'd expect if a bad guy was thrown back into the past," said NegaMorph. "That reminds me...how come you two are back?" said Techo. Wilson nodded. "Yeah...wouldn't you be on Kauai...or in Pan Pacific HQ?" he said.

"Heck if I know," said Draco, "Last thing I remember is telling Kala not to mess with the big crystal. Which reminds me, why'd you have to poke the dumb thing in the first place?" "I don't know...it was like it spoke to me." said Kala. Techo suddenly yelled. "THATS IT!" Matt glared once he was sure his heart had restarted, saying "What is?"

Techo said "We all saw the record of the devices...how they were used on the generals...including Spyro." Wilson looked sceptical. "He ratted on the ancients? I don't see that happening." "Not if Devina forced him to tell," said Matt, "She can be rather... persuasive." "What did she make you do?" growled Kala. "Nothing like that, I swear!" said Matt.

Kala didn't look convinced at this and blasted Matt. "Feel better?" said Chloe weakly. "I do have a plan to fix this. Chip can virus the portal to go to the same place again...we follow...get spyro back and end of problem." Chip added "But thats why we need the records...we don't know when he came out the portal or where."

"I pity the fool who has to sneak into their library undetected," said NegaMorph. Suddenly, he felt everyone's eyes on him. "What? Why are you looking at me? What are you thinking?" "Off you go." said Matt cheerfully. Chloe however said. "No...we'll come too...and you, Cynder." "Uh, I don't know, four's definitely a crowd and crowds stand out," said Matt. "Then NegaMorph can take us through his shadow," said Chloe.

Matt looked at Negamorph who was now grinning in a 'shark spotting a drowning seal' way. "Erm..." he said.

--

A few minutes later, a dark portal opened up and deposited NegaMorph, Chloe, Cynder, and Matt into Malefor's library. Matt looked like he was ready to barf. "Mommy...I feel ill." he said in a dizzy voice. "Don't tell me you never traveled in darkness before," said Cynder. "It's not so bad after the first few times," said Chloe. Matt just grabbed NegaMorph's hat and deposited his breakfast into it.

Negamorph thumped Matt and took the hat back before making an face. "When did you eat carrots?" Chloe and Cynder both made a face. "Ok, let's find the historical section before someone comes in here," said Chloe.

The group spread out into the avenues of scrolls and books, looking for any evidence. It was getting light on the horizon when they found it. A large book that could only not be a brick cause it was made from paper. Matt dropped it with surprising accuracy on Negamorphs head.

"Read me a bedtime story, will you?" asked NegaMorph as little Cynders flew around his head. The book detailed everything as usual up to where it should have said how the ancients captured the generals. It mentioned how a second purple dragon had joined forces with Malefor, exposing the 'human treachery'.

"Ok, so we know how history was altered, sort of," said Chloe, "But what's the exact time and place?" Matt looked at the underline. "About 200, maybe 300 years ago by this worlds time...could be anything for the atlanteans world..."

Just then, there were loud knocks on the door. "Who's in there?" said Spyro's voice, "Open up!" "Jiggers, it's the cops," said NegaMorph, "I've always wanted to say that. And now I'm sorry I did." Matt pulled out a blaster and set it to stun. "Janitors." he called before realising that there was probably no such thing as a janitor in Avalar.

"Allow me," said Zyvar's voice. There was a loud crack and the door was knocked off its hinges. Zyvar stepped in and said, "Ok, what's going- huh?" Chloe was sitting at a desk, wearing a librarian's outfit, including the glasses. "Shh, no loud voices in the library," she said.

Matt, Negamorph and Cynder had managed to hide in a side avenue. "I knew he was a dumbass...but this is taking not just the cake but the coffee too." muttered Matt, desperately holding down a laugh. Matt then looked at Negamorph. "By the way...where did you hide that outfit?"

"Ah, Mr. Zyvar," said Chloe, "You have some overdue books. You better pay the fine. That's 700 gold pieces." "Uh, I don't have it on me," said Zyvar. "In that case, you'll have to work it off," said Chloe. She rapidly filled Zyvar's arms with books and said, "Just put those books back on the shelves, you better hurry."

Negamorph and Cynder watched in horror as this was finally too much for Matts brain and he broke out in hysterical laughter, proving that there were still a couple of loose screws in Matts brain. Zyvar threw the books aside. "I KNEW IT...INTRUDERS!" he yelled and lunged at Matt.

This somehow brought Spyro faint memories of something very similar to this. "Um, Zyvar, you may want to be cautious..." he said. Zyvar was not cautious as he aimed a slash at Matt, who jumped it with ease, pulling out a blaster. "Ghoulwyrm...I've wanted to do this for years." he said, balancing on a bookshelf.

Zyvar swiped at the bookshelf and caused it to shake. Matt's balance was knocked off, but he still managed to hit Zyvar through the neck. To his surprise, the hole just healed over. "Ha! You'll need better weapons to kill-" Zyvar paused as suddenly his neck started squirming. "What is happening?" he demanded as suddenly his claws grew much longer than before.

Matt stepped back, pulling out an old blaster, his old Plasma Magnum MK IV. Chloe knew it though. 2Matt...we never fixed..." she began before Matt fired. On the plus side, it practically vaporised the unfortunate Zyvar. Sadly, as the recoil dampener had never been fixed, it sent Matt back at approximately 50mph into the wall behing him hard enough to leave a 6 inch dent in the rock.

"Uh, we should be going now," said NegaMorph. "You're not going anywhere," growled Spyro. Matt said from his hole. "I'm stuck anyway."

--

Later, the four of them were in the dungeon. "Nobody knows the troubles I've seen..." sang Matt. "SHUT UP, MATT!" yelled everyone. "Well...it did drive the guards away." said Matt and ducked a thrown stool. Two grublins came into the dungeon and pointed at Cynder. "You...come." it said in a gravelly voice.

"Don't tell them anything!" shouted NegaMorph. "We don't have anything to tell," said Chloe. "Well don't tell him that either!" shouted NegaMorph. Matt sighed. "Don't make me sing." he said. "No...don't make him sing." said Negamorph with actual fright in his voice. Matt's singing talent was amazing in how there wasn't any...

Cynder was brought to Spyro's chamber. It was a lot nicer than one might have expected. You might say that he had refined tastes, considering how it was decorated. Spyro was standing at the window. "Ok...you can leave." he said to the grublins, who looked at each other before walking out. "Erm, if it's about my friend blasting Zyvar, I'm sure he regrets it," said Cynder. Matt probably would, he'd have wanted to have had a more thorough shot.

"No matter...Malefor won't let that offence go unpunished...I wanted to talk to you. I keep getting the feeling I know you." said Spyro, turning round to face her. "Well, believe or not, you did, a long time ago," said Cynder, "when we were both young." "No...Malefor said I was from the earth colony...an orphan." said Spyro.

"Not quite," said Cynder, "You actually came from here. Your younger self got thrown backwards through time." "Thats impossible...did those humans tell you that?" said Spyro, sounding amused. "No, those humans, well, it's a long complicated story." Said Cynder.

Spyro sighed. "Well...its not me you have to convince...its Lord Malefor...you helped murder Zyvar." he said. "It doesn't matter...he might be lenient with you...I hope he is." said Spyro before calling for the guards. "I hope so to," said Cynder as she was lead away, "You know I'll always love you." Spyro stopped at this and turned to watch her leave, a confused look on his face.

--

When she returned she saw Matt in a headlock and Chloe stuffing something in his mouth. "Uh, what's going on?" asked Cynder. Negamorph let go. "Muting the musical accompaniment." he said viciously. Matt was writing in pain on the floor, with a sock in his mouth. Cynder didn't think this was so bad till she caught a whiff and nearly passed out. "So...what did Malefor say?" said Chloe.

"It wasn't Malefor who called for me, it was Spyro," said Cynder, "He was curious about me and I tried to jog his memory." "Did it work? I dunno about you but a king size spyro would make breaking out of here simpler." said Chloe.

"I'm not certain," said Cynder, "But I hope we won't have to wait for Malefor to interrogate us. I have a feeling we may not survive the experience."

--

A hour later, the grublins came back with friends and dragged the group up to a hall where four familier faces were, along with Malefor and Spyro. Matt aimed a particularly nasty glare at Devina and made a throat slashing motion.

"Let the trial commence," said Malefor. "Oh great," muttered Matt, "As if the trial with the fake dragon wasn't bad enough..." "Ok...I get it...I improved your group IQ by several points by vaporising Ghoulwyrm...sue me." said Matt before anyone could get the sock back in. "Well, Zyvar did attack them first," said Spyro, "It could be considered a case of self-defence." Malefor glared at Spyro. "Silence..." he snarled. "Objection...Spyro is cleverer then you all...and less psychotic." called Matt. Negamorph managed to splat some goo on Matt's face.

"Why are we even bothering with this?" said Raptor, "The great Malefor has better things to do than listen to the lies of two humans and their pet demon." "I AM NOT A SMEGGING DEMON FOR ANCIENTS SAKE!" yelled Negamorph, angrily.

"He knows of the Ancients?" said Avarona intrigued. "Nice going, NegaMorph," muttered Chloe. Malefor smirked knowingly. the group knew that smirk. It said 'Gotcha'. "Uh, the defense requests a bathroom break," said Matt. "Overruled." said Devina. "I overrule the overrule." said Matt, he and Devina trading glares that were probably superheating the air.

"Can't we settle this like civilized beings?" asked NegaMorph. Shard promptly through a sharped rock through NegaMorph's head. "Boy, those words weren't worth the breath they were carried on," said NegaMorph. The two were dragged back to their cells, except for Matt.

"Generals, depart," said Malefor, "I wish to deal with this one privately." The others departed, except for Spyro who looked at Matt then shook his head sadly before leaving. Matt leaned against a pillar. "Ok...lets hear the offer so I can tell you where to stick it." he said rudely.

"You know, I believe I've heard tales about you," said Malefor, "Specifically, they were ones of a warrior who acted manic but had darker tendencies. I think that applies to you." "Did Spyro mention how I'd rather eat my socks then even entertain working for you?" said Matt.

"Hmm, so it is true," said Malefor, "And you probably thought you could come in here, rescue Spyro, and push me off my throne, didn't you?" "Yeah...more or less..." said Matt, not even doing Malefor the grace of looking at him, looking at his glove instead.

"Well, you've completely wasted your time," said Malefor, "Spyro has been in my service to long to take him back. The world is completely under my control. I cannot lose, now or ever." Matt laughed cruelly. "You remind me of a guy...Dr Aniko Kurata...he said the same thing more or less." he said.

"And how far did he get?" asked Malefor. "Eh, he had ultimate power at one point, but then I kicked his butt and now he's rotting in jail," said Matt. Malefor opened his mouth to reply when Matt continued. "...but you won't go to jail...I'm personally gonna send you back where you got out from."

Malefor growled at Matt and said, "Your audacity is starting to work on my nerves." Matt smirked. "Oh yes. Its what I do...especially with overgrown jumped up little alligators with delusions of grandeur. Red must be so proud." he said. Sadly Red was the last straw.

Malefor roared loudly with rage. Inside Matt's head, his common sense was kicking at the sides of his head as the thought 'Start the chase music' went through. Before Matt could move, Malefors forepaw moved in a flashing blur and pain blossomed in Matts right eye, as well as the bow sending him across the floor. He got to his hands and knees to find blood on his hands before seeing Malefors forepaws in front of him, his left paw covered in Matt's blood.

"You see? You have no power in this world. You cannot hope to win," said Malefor, "Consider this when you're back in your cell. Guards!" Chloe went hysterical when Matt was dumped into his cell, three neat slashes across his right eyes. "I'll kill him...I'LL KILL THEM ALL!" she said, a dark aura forming around her.

"Easy there, Chloe," said NegaMorph, "All we have to do is go back in time and Matt would never have gotten blinded in the first place." "I can still see." said Matt weakly. He looked at Chloe. "Please don't lose it here." he said.

"Don't worry, I have a spare red gem," said Cynder as she handed it to Matt. Matt took it, saying. "It won't work any..." and stopped as the gem melted into his hand. The cuts on his eyes closed up, leaving some nasty scars behind. He still felt weak though...he'd bled alot.

--

Meanwhile, Spyro was pacing about his room. "Why do I care about them?" asked himself, "They're just a pair of humans and a demon." "I AM NOT A DEMON!" shouted NegaMorph's voice in the distance. "They shouldn't be of any importance to me and yet, I feel I know them. Especially that Cynder."

"Thats because I do know them he said. "No...I never knew anyone...espetially not that demon. "I SAID I'M NOT A DEMON!" said Negamorphs voice again. Spyro looked arouns before coming to a decision. "Whether I know them or not, I can't let Malefor execute them, not even the demon." "I AM NOT A- AW, FORGET IT!"

--

Spyro came into the groups cell to see Chloe still tending to her brothers wound. "Can we help you?" she said angrily. "Or have you come to finish off Matt's eye?" "Stop associating Spyro with Malefor," said NegaMorph, "Even if he can't remember one's species." "Yeah...Malefors a worm...not a dragon." said Matt weakly.

"I'm here to get you out of here," said Spyro, "But I want to come with you." "No." said Matt at the same tine Cynder said "Yes." He exchanged a glare with her but realised he wouldn't win this one. "Fine...lets get outta here." he said.

"Finally," said NegaMorph as he slid through the bars, "I thought we never would get out of here." "You mean you could have done that at any time?" said Matt angrily. "What would be the point?" said NegaMorph, "I wouldn't get 10 feet before being caught again." Matt's eyes blazed and a plasma blast in the shape of a column smashed the cell door...and the door out the dungeon off their hinges.

"Nice move," said NegaMorph. "Not quite," said Matt, "I meant that to hit you."

--

The rest of the group had been waiting anxiously for the group. Negamorph had sent the book via shadow to the ship before they'd been caught but it had been a day since they'd been seen. Finally Wilson saw something. "Its the guys...holy shit...is that Malefor? Why are his boys chasing him?" he said, waving Chip and Draco over.

"Wait a sec," said Chip as his eye extended like a telescope, "That's not Malefor. It looks like Spyro, only... grown up. And Matt, Chloe, Cynder, and NegaMorph are there too." "Get the guns out." yelled Wilson to the dozen or so marines that had been the surviving crew. He turned back. "How in hell is Spyro gonna fit in the ship now?"

--

Matt, unable to transform to dragon form, was sitting on Spyro's back, taking pot shots at Wyverns trying to spray their corrosive acid breath onto Spyro's back but he was hoping for a shot at the general leading the chase, Raptor.

"Destroy the traitor," commanded Raptor, "The Great Malefor commands it!" "Gee, what an ant-brain," muttered Matt. He ignited a plasma orb in his hand and closed his bad eye to aim better. He concentrated and his orb turned into a spear shape and sent it out, the spear shooting through three wyverns before exploding against Raptors back. "Trick shot." he called, pleased even though Raptor was still going.

"No time for showing off," said NegaMorph as he shooting fangs to create holes in their wings, "We gotta get outta here pronto." A hail of energy fire shot into the cloud of Wyvern, scattering them in terror and killing more. The Nighthawk swooped overhead with its cargo door open, several marines having set up mounted heavy pulse repeaters to shoot as the ship swooped away. "Whew, that's a relief," said Chloe.

Raptor reluctantly stopped the pursuit in the face of the newcomers, much to the relief of the group. However, there was a problem.

--

"What do you mean Spyro can't come with us?" said Cynder. "I know time travel," said Matt, "If we bring this Spyro with us and he meets the Spyro we're looking for, there will be an anti-chronoton explosion like you wouldn't believe." "We're talking end of the world style." said Wilson. He looked up at Spyro. "Sorry, Man." he said.

"I understand," said Spyro, "I will stay here and make sure Malefor's forces won't follow you." "I surprised they haven't closed in on this place now," said Chip. "Come to think of it," said NegaMorph, "Where are those Shar-Virk jerks?"

--

Later, the ship and Spyro were heading for the archway. "Chip...you got contact with the arch yet?" said Matt. He was feeling better now he'd had a few shots of medical nanites. "Hey, this is extremely highly-advanced technology," said Chip, "You can't expect me to just- Oh wait, I've got it."

What he was going to warn about arrived a second faster. The ship shook like it had been kicked and everyone was thrown violently to the floor.

--

Spyro could only watch in horror as a blue beam shot from one of the towers near the arch and burnt one of the Nighthawks engines off. Just then, Malefor and his posse flew out. "Foolish Spyro," said Malefor, "Did you really think it would be that easy to turn your back on me?" "Why? Why did you lie to me?" roared Spyro angrily. Spyro snarled. "I won't let their sacrifice be in vain...DIE!" he yelled and flew at the shocked Malefor.

--

Matt pushed the metal girder off Kala. "Sound off." he yelled, wiping dust off his face. The computer said calmly. "Alert. Irreparable damage to port engine...weapon systms: Offline. Self repair: Offline. Alert."

"Good thing the time warp will undo this," muttered Matt, "How's everyone." "I'm ok," said Chip, "Lucky I landed on something soft." "Yep, that was my head," said Draco in a disorientated voice, "Look at all the little lights."

Techo was helped up by Wilson. "Bloody leg is busted." said Techo, wincing. Cynder got up unsteadily from under a loose pile of circuitry. "I'm ok." she said. Chloe held up Kala. "She's just knocked out." said Chloe, seeing Matts eyes flash with murder in mind.

"Uh, where's Contrinus?" asked Cynder, who was also unharmed. NegaMorph popped up out of the rubble. "Good thing I don't have bones," he said before coughing up Contrinus, who was disgusted, but alive. At that, the bases A.I made a announcement. "Program accepted...Warning: This will cause a temporal error..." "I'll meet you there." said Matt, limping over to a control console that was home to a single keypad.

"Uh, that looks like it will be a problem," said Chip pointing upwards. They looked up to see a piece of roof section had been torn off in the crash, giving them a good view of Spyro and Malefors fight. "He's buying us time...go...I'll make doubly sure." he said.

Just then, Malefor blasted Spyro with a purple meteor and he was sent plummeting towards the ground. "Spyro's going to need help on this one," said NegaMorph, "I'll stay behind. I'm harder to kill directly." "Negamorph...get your arse in that portal. Thats an order." said Matt, adding quietly. "Make sure Cynder goes through...if we win, this never will happen."

"If we win, I'll be just fine," said NegaMorph as he pulled out his Lockblade. "I won't leave Spyro to die," said Cynder, "Not even in this timeline." "No-can-do," said NegaMorph as he tossed her over to Matt, "You guys are the important ones. You have to set things right." Before anyone could stop him, NegaMorph flew straight into Malefor.

Matt watched. "Absolute nutter." he said before walking over to the control panel. "Initiate...code ion 4-1-3." he said. The computer screen flickered and a CGI skull appeared. "Initiating Program: Action Five. Please confirm via DNA imprint." Matt touched a seamless piece of the panel and the skull smirked cruelly. Matt had hoped he'd never use this program, made by Chip.

"Action Five armed and activated. Program will run in 100 seconds-99-98-97." said the skull. Matt turned to Cynder. "We have to go." he said. "I'm not leaving Spyro," said Cynder, "Tell the others I'm staying." "Hey, I'm not a messenger," said Matt, "I'm a delivery boy." "You wouldn't dare," growled Cynder. He then proceeded to pick up Cynder anyway, running for the door, while the dragoness struggled all the way.

The others were busy running for the portal. "Are you sure it's safe?" asked Contrinus. "Absolutely not," said Chip, "But it's better than what's behind us." Matt looked back one last time to see Negamorph and Spyro trying to double team Malefor. "Dammit...I won't let this happen. Off we go, Cynder." he said and unceremoniously threw her into the portal before diving in after her.

--

Malefor released a wave of purple fire that singed NegaMorph and burnt of Spyro's wings. "Thus is the fate of all who would challenge me," said Malefor. Negamorph grinned. His hearing could hear a countdown he'd seen Chip make. "31-30-29-28." "You'd better hurry up and enjoy it." he said, doing his best impression of Matt's annoying tone that he could.

"I'll just follow them and destroy those two humans," said Malefor, "and maybe Spyro here could watch the black dragoness's torture himself." Spyro tried weakly to get up while in the ruined ship, a single voice sounded through the corridors. "Action Five will initiate in 5-4-3-2-1-Initiating." before special charges in the ships ammo stores, the reserve fuel and on the ships power core all exploded at once, causing a explosion that encompassed the whole facility and everyone in it.

--

As any time traveller could tell you, a trip through the timestream is disorientating. But a trip through the time stream to another world is a big doozy. Matt saw countless flashing colors as well as random stuff flying past him, mostly timepieces. He even thought he saw PlasMorph saying, "Hi Matt. Bye Matt."

"Ok...what the smeg was that?" he said, more to himself as he couldn't even hear himself speak. The end of the warp tunnel came into view and the location looked familier. It was a planet he'd seen in many forms over the many years, in both wierd and wonderful variants. This one however spoke to something deep down. "Home." he said quietly.

**To be continued...**

**Looks like the gang have their work cut out...but what time are they appearing in and how will they find Spyro? Stay tuned to find out.**


	13. Past Imperfect pt 2

**Spyro, Cynder, and all other Spyro related characters are property of Sierra studios. **

**Draco, Contrinus, Chip and Cydra are property of my co-author, Cydra. **

**Matt, his merc team, the NSC and related tech, the ancients/atlanteans and malefors dragon generals are mine.**

**CPS Chronicles: Forgotten Blood**

**Chapter 12: Past Imperfect pt 2**

**Earth**

**Unknown time and place**

A thunderstorm had been gathering over the small forest for a few hours now. Now it finally let loose, pelting the trees below with a torrent of rain. However, the lightning was rather unusual as all the bolts seemed to curl upwards than go down. But finally, one bolt shot down towards the ground, in a rather straight line.

The lightning seemed to fracture the air, revealing a howling multicoloured tunnel. Had anyone been listening they would have heard 'Oh smeeeeg' getting steadily louder before two shapes fell out the portal, one stopping itself with bat-like wings and the other plunging headfirst into the river below, coincidently cutting off the scream. A second later a human head poked out the waters surface.

Matt spat out the water that got in his mouth and said, "Well, I'm alive, at least. Man, this water is cold." He looked up at his portal companion. "You know...there's such a thing as being a smartarse." he said to the smirking dragoness. He later found out the smirk was because a rather surprised frog had taken up residence on his helmet.

Matt climbed out the stream, soaked to the bone. The rain coming down from above wasn't helping either. "I hope I don't catch pneumonia," he muttered to himself. Cynder landed next to him. "I think that would be the least trouble...didn't the dragon colonists get killed by the people here?" Matt stopped, processing this. It was true, not including they'd probably not just include the wrath to the dragon in general but anyone standing near them.

"Well..." he said, throwing the frog back in the river "...at least I haven't been struck by light..." he began before a bolt of lightning shot down and struck him on the helmet. "...never mind." he rasped before falling over.

--

Meanwhile, quite close to a ring formed of stone monoliths with stones perched on top like an archway, another thunderstorm was in effect, with the same strange upwards lightning bolts. This time however, the portal opened at a angle, so the subjects, of which there were four, fell out at an angle.

The four of them hit the ground and started rolling forward. They separated and knocked against some of the stone pillars. The impact was enough that some of the pillars were knocked down. The first one, a dragonoid experiment named Draco got up and looked at the damage. "Oh boy...I hope the owners aren't too annoyed." he said.

The second, a phoenix-like experiment named Contrinus looked around and said, "Oh, I don't think it's that important. In fact, I don't think it will last very long." The third one, Kala, looked at the pattern of standing and leaning stones, which suddenly looked like something she saw out of Matt's photo album from his home. "Actually..." she said, "Oh, never mind."

"Erm...didn't Techo have the reality field generators?" said Contrinus, before jumping as a arc of energy crackled on her left wing. The last one, the cyborg experiment, Chip, got up shakily. "Ow," he said, "I think something got damaged in the crash." Suddenly, his form shifted to that of Chixie and back. "Oh great, my sexual identification program is in flux," he said, switching back and forth every few seconds.

Draco however said faintly. "I feel a bit...wierd." he said, energy crackling over him before there was a flash of light. When the light faded, Chip rubbed his eye to get some of the brightness out. But something felt wrong. His skin felt too... soft, and was he rubbing one eye or two? He looked at his hands to see that they were like human's. "Huh, I don't remember turning on my holographic projector," said Chip as he tried to will it off. Draco's voice said faintly. "Erm...I don't think its on...unless we have ones too."

"What? Don't be silly, this can't be real," said Chip as he tried to pull the flesh away. But it wouldn't budge. More than that, it hurt. Chip glanced down at himself, seeing the body of a lanky young adult with a grey long-sleeved shirt with a yellow rectangle in the middle, along with grey jeans and grey sneakers. Chip looked at his arms again and said, "Holy crap, I am freaking out."

"Its not just you...its all of us." said Kala, stepping into his view. Chip stared at Kala. She looked just like when she got recoded by the red kryptonite. She was even wearing the armor they had given her. "Now, Chip, don't panic," said Kala calmly. Chip's eyes wandered over the ground until they stopped at what looked like his old body, only its eye was dark and its chest door was hanging open, showing its empty contents.

He managed a single word "Gurgngh." which more or less signified his brain was having what was called when it happened to matt, a 'little moment' only with less property damage. Kala turned to Contrinus.

Contrinus was wearing the same red loincloth/bikini top combo she wore as a gargoyle, only now her body was that of an Indian girl. Her long black hair had some kind of oil in it that caused it to shimmer like the rainbow whenever light struck it. "Ok, this is beyond weird," said Contrinus. "I'll say," said Kala, "Where's Draco?"

"Right here," said Draco's voice. Both girls looked and saw Draco. He was wearing the chestplate and loincloth combo from his gargoyle outfit, but the surprising part was that he was an African-American with purple stripes in the hair on the sides of his head resembling sevens.

"What? What are you staring at?" asked Draco. "Um, Draco, you're..." started Kala. "Yeah, I know, no scales or claws," said Draco. "Not just that," said Contrinus, "You, um..." She waved her hand in front of her face. "Black? Yeah, I know. I'm just as surprised as you are."

Kala said "Look. I remember when this happened to me...we mustn't panic..." she said just as Chip strarted to snigger in a creepily accurate imitation of Matt when he was starting to lose it. Draco glanced at Chip, whose human form looked Hawaiian in heritage, with black hair in a bowl-style haircut and oval-shaped glasses on his face. "Figures, he's just as much a nerd as a human as he is an experiment," said Draco. "He's also seems to be going hysterical." said Kala, pointedly.

"Hysterical? Why would I be going hysterical?" said Chip in a disturbingly calm voice. "I've just been reality-warped into a human meat bag. Not to mention we have no idea where we are or even when we are. I can't imagine any bigger surprises happening." Suddenly, he winced as his body spasmed. His body shrank in some parts and grew in others. Slowly, Chixie removed the now long hair from her face.

"Oh dear." said Kala, her experience with Matt giving her an good idea of Chips next action which was to start laughing hysterically. "Oh, it looks like my glitching sexual identification program carried over to my new all-organic body," said Chixie with a creepy smile on her face, "What fun." "You don't think she kept her taser powers, do you?" asked Draco nervously.

"Probably...I think we should be very friendly to her till she calms down." said Kala, putting enphjssis on the words. "This could be so much fun," said Chixie, "I feel like I could clothes shopping all day. Oh wait, there are no malls around here. Hehehehehe." "I think you had enough excitement for right now," said Contrinus, "How about you rest now, Chip." "Don't you get it?!" shouted Chixie, "You see the boobs?! I am Missus Chixie!" She started laughing maniacally until Draco said, "Snap out of it, Chip!" and slapped her.

Chip looked at Draco in shock before saying. "Thanks...ok...wierder stuff has happened...I was a cybertronian for a month...I can handle this..." she said, taking deep breaths before falling to sob on Draco's shoulder. "NO, I CAAANNN'T." She wailed.

"There, there, it won't last forever," said Kala. Suddenly, Chixie spasmed and her body morphed back to her male form. "See? You're normal again." "Uh, not likely," said Chip, "Seeing how that reality hit me just as I was glitching, I'll be doing this off and on until I'm back to normal. Female hormones, ugh, I'm gonna have such mood swings." Draco looked around to see two more storms foorming in the distance. "Well...at least we can find the others..." he said.

"Ok, we've dealt with new bodies before," said Kala, "We can deal with these now." "Easy for you to say," grumbled Chip, "Your's was practically the same and it had a solid sex frame." "Hey, cheer up, bro," said Draco, "At least it can't get any-"With those very words, the storm cloud that had formed from their arrival portal, decided to start raining on them. Chip turned to Draco. "Stop talking."

--

Elsewhere, Matt and Cynder were trudging through the raining woods. "Boy, I sure could use a toasty campfire about now," said Cynder. "You and me both," chattered Matt, shivering from his dip in the stream. The two walked through the woods, the rain above causing droplets of water to hit them every now and again. "I swear...if I bump into Malefor at some point...screw the timeline, I'll squish him...probably repeatedly." said Matt darkly before seeing three figures further down the path they'd found. Matt made a 'shh' motion to Cynder and sneaked towards one of the figures.

"Uh, Matt, I don't think you should-" started Cynder before Matt shushed her again. He snuck close until he was in close enough a position to tackle the figure. Only when he tried to do so, he was judo flipped into a bush.

Matt pulled his head out the bush to see a plasma blaster aimed at his nose. "Ok, joker...Matt?" said a familiar voice. "Only my brother would be dumb enough to attack me...we ran into some bandit types when we landed." she said helping him up. "What happened?" asked Cynder. Techo said. "Oh...they had some currency on em so it was ok."

"Have you guys found the experiments yet?" asked Matt as he got a few twigs out of his hair. "No," said Wilson, "We can't pick up Chip's signal at all." Said Wilson. "Oh great...they might turn up tomorrow or in the time of the dinosaurs for all we know...those poor T-rex's." said Matt.

"Er, speaking of prehistoric creatures," said Techo, "This isn't the time when saber-toothed cats could pounce on you, is it?" Matt looked at his wrist comp, slapping it to get some water out. "River." he said by way of explanation. Finally a date was displayed. "Well...welcome to the dark ages...a free souvenir of black death with every rat." he said, showing the date, which said '9600 BC'. "Ouch." said Techo. "Least the NSC won't get mad at us for using time travel."

Matt and Chloe looked gloomy at this news until Matt kicked a tree stump. "Hell...we get home and we're a few dozen millennia early...BLOODY MULTIVERSE!" he said angrily. "Well, if we could cryogenically freeze ourselves and wait," said Chloe. "Yeah, right," said Matt, "Did you know about anyone from our time who's been successfully unfrozen?"

Chloe stopped. The closest had been a woolly mammoth at the north pole which had been extremely frozen but also sadly extremely dead at the same time which would be a bit of a drawback. "Ok...we wait 10 more minutes then we find some locals and shake them for information....literally is it comes to that." she said.

"Right," said Matt sarcastically, "I'm sorry, but I don't think we'll be getting much info from people who lived during the Bronze Age." Chloe pulled out two devices. The bandits had energy pistols...they look looted." she said.

Just then, they heard a rustling in the bushes. The group tensed as they heard voices coming closer. Chloe pointed the energy pistols in that direction and said, "Alright, come out with your hands up!" A person who reminded Matt of the academy picture of Techo that he'd once looked at came into view, hands in the air. "Ok, joker...I know there's more of you back there so lets everyone come on out...KALA!" he said, in shock as a familiar human came into view. He quickly had an idea why. "Techo...where are the spare reality shields?" Techo said "On the ship...oh crap."

"You could have given us some warning that this might happen," said the other person, with Chip's voice. The group just stared, open mouthed as two more figures walked into view. "Let me guess...Contrinus and Draco." said Matt, putting his head in his hand. Kala nodded. "Sorry...we thought Techo was going to appear with us...does he have the reality fields?"

"Um...no," said Techo meekly. Chip, Draco and Contrinus started glaring at him. "What?" said Chip icily before twitching and turning into his Chixie form. "Ok...hard to be threatening when that happ...ARGH!" he managed before all three lunged at him.

"Well, I guess this situation isn't all bad," said Kala as she stood close to Matt. "Yeah," said Matt, "This could be okay." The two of them started to lean close together until Chloe noticed and kicked a nearby tree. A large amount of water fell from the tree branches and splashed on Matt and Kala.

"Ok...I guess Chloe is still 'by the book' said Matt, dripping. Wilson was looking out. "Hey...campfire...2000 yards." he said, pointing to a column of smoke in the distance. Matt sighed. "Finally...lets go share...please stop killing Techo." he said.

"You think I enjoy being stuck like this?!" shouted Chixie, "You only got stuck as a girl once for like one minute. I'm switching sexes like every 10 minutes!" "Then if we get attacked you can distract them...where's your other...bit?" he said, referring to Chips usual body. Techo said in a dizzy voice. "Yeah...no littering the master dimension."

"Right here," said Chixie, holding up her empty shell, "I'm not going to leave this lying around." "Good...now lets go annoy the locals..." said Matt

--

As they got nearer, the group began to hear talking. "Aw...whats wrong...can't reach the food?" said a voice with cruel amusement. The group looked at each other in confusion. "Could be cops...or bounty hunters..." whispered Wilson.

"I don't think so," said Matt, "Bounty hunters, possibly. But I think the cops treat their prisoners better." Matt looked at the group. "Kala and Cynder, with me. Chloe...if you hear screams...er...my scream...come on up...just wait otherwise." With that, the two walked into the clearing and Matt instantly had to suppress an urge to spray the campfire occupants with plasma fire.

The campsite was occupied by five or six men, hunters by the look of their clothes. One of them was holding a bit of meat in front of a cage, in tantalizing reach of the dragons that were inside it. Kala placed a hand on Matt's wrist. "No." she mouthed. The hunters had similar weapons to what Taleth's crew had used in new york. One of them looked over. "Oh...Hi...you caught one...Angus...put her with the others and get some food for our guests..." said one of them in a thick scottish accent. Matt said. "Touch her and die slowly..." in a cold voice.

"And what makes ye think ye can tell us what to do?" said one of the hunters as he pulled out his broadsword. Matt and Kala looked at each other and Matt pulled out his ion staff, activating it while Kala pulled out one of the looted energy pistols and Cynder prepared a burst of shadow fire. The response was...unexpected. Most of the hunters all suddenly went white and grovelled on the spot.

Matt paused and said uncertainly, "Well, that's more like it." "I'm sorry, noble Shar-virk....we didn't know she was with you...spare us." said the one who had up till 4 second ago, been holding the broadsword. "Ah, c'mon," said one of them, "It's six of us against one of him. We can take him easy." He started charging at Matt with his battle axe.

There was a crack and axe man fell backwards, clutching his wrist, shouting. Wilson and the others, Wilson holding his smoking rifle, came out the treeline. Chloe had also drawn her ion blade. "We should kill you now." she said, having overheard the confusion and was doing a passable impression, using her experience as Silvia to effect.

That immediately got the hunters on their knees and begging for mercy. "This is almost too easy for me to savor it," muttered Matt. Cynder however had also slipped in impression mode. "Let them go." she said to the leader, pointing her tail at the cage, containing the mildly amused but also extremely worried dragons. The leader started fumbling for his keys and ran over to unlock the cage.

The dragons didn't stop to thank them, instead taking off, a few jeering in avalarian at the hunters and one setting broadsword mans foot on fire as he left. "Ok, beardy...where were they going?" Matt said, picking up the guy.

"Lady Devina paid us to bring her young dragons," said the swordsman, "She payed us handsomely with gold." "I know Devina...she wouldn't do it personally with scum like you...where would you drop them off? Do tell or I squish you." said Matt, transforming his hand for emphasis. The guy whimpered. "A town...30 miles south..." he said.

"So what should we do these guys?" asked Kala. Techo said. "We could tie em to a tree and leave em as wolf chow." he said, viciously. Wilson shook his head. "Nah...we don't wanna poison them...the wolves, I mean...I say we let Cynder decide." Chloe smiled. "Cynder?" she said.

"Have you seen a dragon by the name of Spyro?" asked Cynder. "We caught a purple dragon who said his name was Spyro 2 days ago," said the hunter. Cynder snarled at him. "Where is he?" she said, practically spitting with rage. "We took him to the town...to be picked up by Zyvar like the others...keep her away from me." he said, aiming the last part at the others who strangely got deaf all of the sudden, except for the experiments.

"Uh, I'm not sure it'd be a good idea for Cynder to spray these guys' guts around," said Kala. "Probably but I doubt anyone will miss these rats." he said, shocking Kala in how he said it. Finally Matt said. "Ok...Cynder..." Cynder growled but stood down. "If I catch these creeps capturing any more dragons," she said, "I won't hold back next time."

"Creeps like them aren't worth the ammo." said Matt, glaring at the hunter till he got the message he'd gotten a chance that would not turn up twice. He quickly ran after his pals into the woods. "Well...we got a destination at least." said Techo, opening one of the provision bags the hunters had left. "Oh goody...the bronze age 'red meat' diet. I always wanted food poisoning." he said.

"Oh, relax," said Draco, "I can just speed-fry it and it'll be safe to eat." "Uh, Draco, sweetie?" said Contrinus, "Humans can't breathe fire, remember?" Luckily the fire was still going so it didn't take long to get the meat cooked. Chloe noticed that Cynder had sat a little way off and brought her some of the meat. "Penny for your thoughts?" she said, sitting down near her.

"It's those hunters," said Cynder, "I could and would have easily killed them if you guys hadn't talked me down. What if I react the same with all the other humans here?" "Look. I was ready to do the same to them. Whats important is you didn't. You are not a murderer...never were...never will be." said Chloe, passing her the meat. "Come over to the fire...tomorrow we'll drop kick spyro's jailers...believe me...its good for stress."

Right now, Matt was roasting some mushrooms over the fire. "Uh, Matt, where did you get those?" asked Chip. "Oh, I found them growing over there," said Matt, "I always did find portabellos tasty." "Uh, you may want to reconsider-" started Chip but didn't finish in time before both Matt and Kala ate one.

"Uh oh," muttered Chip. "What?" asked Draco. "Those mushrooms weren't portabellos. So I'm guessing either they're either poisonous..." "Whoa!" said Matt, "Everything is...technicolor..." "...or it could send them on a crazy loop," finished Chip. Draco said "Can you tell the difference?"

"Wow," said Kala, her pupils of different sizes, "I feel so relaxed." "Totally," said Matt, who seemed to be losing his center of gravity. Chloe wandered back and went pale. "Oh crap...tell me Matt isn't what I think he is."

"If you mean he's currently in the Mushroom Kingdom, then yes," said Wilson. Unfortunately, this prompted Matt and Kala to come up with their own song to the tune of the Mario Bros. theme, which they got horribly wrong. Forty miles away, wolves fled from what sounded like some monster in its death throes. (Matts singing is that bad)

--

Matt came too the next morning to find himself tied upside down to a pine tree with a gag on. He spat it out and said. "Hello?" wincing as what felt like nuclear war broke out in his skull. "Oh look, Captain Cloud 9 has come back to Earth," said Techo. "Let me go or die." said Matt, adding "Quietly please."

"Uh, I'm not certain you should be let go yet," said Draco. "Oh come on," said Matt, "I wouldn't mangle you that bad." "It's not for our safety, it's for yours," said Chloe. "Turns out that Kala's more 'susceptible' to mushroom madness than you are," said Contrinus. Matt stopped. "Erm...she's not looking to...recreate some of our New York assignment...is she?" he said.

"Yep," said Wilson, "She's like a moth to your flame." "Um, where is she, anyways?" asked Matt. "Look to your right," said Cynder. Matt looked to see a still-zonked Kala in her underwear, rubbing against the tree. "Hey Matt," she said, "You wanna get super freaky or what?" "Do we have any sedative darts?" said Matt dully. Much as he liked Kala, he didn't want to spend the rest of the day upside down.

"We've been trying, but I think that's only making the mushroom effect last longer," said Chip. "Wait a sec," said Wilson, who had been looking through his wristcomp's database for wilderness survival, "It says here that clarity can be restored by scaring the, uh, patient." "What does that en..." said Matt and was shot in the face by a plasma pistol.

Kala however had gone white. "WHAT THE HELLS YOUR BLITZNAK DAMAGE?" she screamed, lunging at Chip. "Well, she's back to normal," said Cynder, "Though I would have just used my Banshee Shriek on her." Matt said. "This is more entertaining."

--

The group walked down the wide path they'd discovered near the forest, following the direction the hunters had provided. "Ok...we should stick to the Shar-Virk cover...it seems to get answers very quick." said Chloe. "Right," said Matt, "So the two of us have to act as obnoxious as possible." "You can use Neilsson as your role model," said Wilson.

"Not that much." said Chloe, as a small wooden wall came into view in the distance. "What about Cynder? We go in there, we can't exactly stop em without blowing our cover like we did with those hunters." "I know how to act evil too," said Cynder, "I should be able to put on a convincing act."

"Ok...remember...just imagine these guys are something on your foot...or that I've threatened to sing again." said Matt. This turned out to be the wrong thing to say. As such the gate guard was treated to Chip trying to strangle Matt when he opened the hatch. "Er...hello?" he said

"Um, get your hands off me, you lowly worm," said Matt as he kicked away Chip. The guard raised an eyebrow. He was willing to watch though...this was the most interesting thing to happen all week. "Who goes there?" he said, disappointed that the show was apparently over.

"We are Silvia and Draconus, loyal Shar-Virk warriors" said Chloe, "We demand entrance at once or there will be consequences to face." The guard smirked. "Oh yeah? Lady Devina said that a dragon has to go with you guys...so prove...oh." he said, looking down to see Cynder. "Hah...she's tiny...no way she's your escort."

Cynder growled and suddenly swelled to her adult size and form. The guard looked up. He wasn't frightened but he looked resigned. "Fine, you made your point...I'll go get the captain...wait here." As the guard went to unlock the gate, Matt said, "Uh, forgive me for sounding ungrateful, but since when could you do that?"

"I don't know," said Cynder, "Maybe it's because I was so angry at those hunters or maybe it's because of the machine in my tower. I'm actually more surprised than you are." "Never look a gift in the mouth." said Chloe. The door clicked and slowly opened to reveal several guards, a guy barely Matts age at their head. "Welcome to Pariah. I am Captain Morgan, town watch."

Cynder shrunk back to her teenaged form, which surprised the guards. "Uh, she has to hide her true form," explained Matt, "We're on a secret mission and we don't want to alert the civilians." Matt then said "Unless you want to tell Captain Taleth you stopped us." Morgan smiled. "I'm sure Arceon Taleth has no reason to worry." he said, offering a hand to shake.

Matt took Morgan's hand and shook. "I'll meet you at your quarters later," muttered Morgan, causing a shocked expression to appear on Matt's for a brief second.

--

The group were not pleased, though Chloe was impressed. Matt had broken his own record for screwing up an infiltration. What had worried them however was that Morgan had not appeared to have alerted anyone yet. "What should we do now?" asked Contrinus. "I don't think we should act now," said Chip, "That'll have everyone on us like ants on a dropped ice cream scoop."

"We could try shooting them." said Techo and wilted under the group glare. "Just an option." he said. Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. "Who's there?" called Kala. "Morgan," replied Morgan's voice. "Morgan who?" asked Kala. "What do you mean 'Morgan who'? Open this door now!" "That's the worst knock-knock joke I've ever heard," muttered Kala.

Matt opened the door...or tried too. As soon as it was unlatched,, Morgan pushed it open, knocking Matt over. "Ok...whats the big idea? I told command I could handle this. The last thing I need is a bunch of initiates bumbling around." he said, angrily. "Er...we're not..." began Matt.

"Uh, that's me," said Matt, "but would you mind going back to the part where you're telling us who's side you're on?" "Arceon Morgan...I'm guessing you only just recieved your gift...given how you nearly blew your cover. What if Zyvar had been there?" said Morgan.

"Oh, you're kidding me," groaned Chloe, "Ghoulwyrm's here too?" Morgan smirked. "Yes...his names translation into common is quite...suitable." he said. "Yes. He's here. He took away some purple hatchling that turned up 2 nights ago...poor guy." Cynder looked stricken. "They've taken Spyro?" she said. "Oh, you knew him?" said Morgan, "I'm sorry, I would have prevented it if I could."

Matt swore. "Damn...Right...we go after him." he said and was blocked by Morgan. "Oh no you don't. Now you're here we can get all the others out tonight." "Uh, I think our situation's more dire, so if you don't mind..." said Matt as he tried to get past Morgan. Suddenly, Matt found himself being thrown back by a fire hydrant-like blast of water. Kala helped Matt to his feet, everyone looking in shocks as Morgan lowered a very draconic hand that shimmered back into its human form. "No...it isn't..." he said.

"Fine...you're not...and just be careful...Zyvar has an escort...one of Taleths initiates...Anton or something." said Morgan. Matt just groaned and said, "Ugh, why me? Anyone else we hate that lives in this time period?" "Uh, Mantichrome and Omnirus wouldn't be here," said Draco, "But I think you made a big time stream no-no." Morgan looked at them funny. "I know Taleths ship are trying to jam incoming portal traffic...but you're talking like you've popped out a temporal vortex." he said. "We get the prisoners out tonight...no screw ups."

"Uh, right," said Chloe, "We'll certainly help where we can." Suddenly, Chip grimaced. "What's wrong?" asked Contrinus. "What do you think?" muttered Chip, "I'm about to switch again." Matt grabbed the surprised Morgan and pushed him out. "We need to plan...can't let you see how the magic happens." and slammed the door on Morgan's surprised face just in time.

"It's not magic," said Chip, "It's just a glitch that got exaggerated by the stupid reality field." Chip's body suddenly switched to its feminine form. Chip swore in Tantalog and pointed at Cynder saying, "How comes she's still got her real skin?" "I don't know...nobody really understands reality fields." said Matt. Chloe sighed. "And what could we do even if we knew?"

"I don't know," moaned Chixie, "I just hate being forced to act on every girly whim that comes into my head? How can you handle it?" The mercenaries in the group just looked clueless. "Look on the bright side...this won't have happened if we get Spyro outta here." said Matt, in a desperate voice.

"Fat lot of consolidation that does," said Chixie, "Until then, I think the estrogen's sapping 25% percent of my partially active brain, these stupid mammeries on my chest keep getting in the way, and I keep getting this feeling that at one point, I'm going to try to jump Techo's bones." The group fell silent at this information. "Lets just get the job done." Matt said weakly.

--

When it got dark, the gang sneaked out of the inn they were staying in. "How will we know where the dragons are being kept?" asked Kala. "Shouldn't be too hard," said Matt, "We just have to find Morgan." Morgan could be seen standing, talking to two guards in front of some stone steps leading into the earth. When he spotted the group coming into view, he suddenly punched the first guard so hard that he spun and blasted the other with water blast. "Took your time...who's the girl?" he said, looking at Chixie.

Morgan didn't look convinced but said. "Fine...have your men keep an eye out...and you can go free the dragons." he said.

The area down the steps was nothing more then a dungeon...a crowded one at that. Most of the dragons just looked resigned, accepting of what they thought was going to happen to them. The lynches and Cynder spotted two shar-virk armoured guards trying to push a dragon into one of the cages. "HEY, UGLY!" yelled Matt and fired his pulse pistol into the two.

One of them was knocked out by the blast, but the other drew his own pistol and started blasting at Matt. Matt and Chloe ducked behind some old boxes as the Shar-virk fumbled to get his ion blade out. The dragons didn't need any more prompting. They ran out of the cages and took flight as soon as they could stretch their wings.

The trio ran up after them. "I wonder where wonderwyrm is...probably still in bed." said Matt cheekily. "Bit of a contrast to what he will be," said Contrinus. "Time to motor?" asked Chloe. "Time to motor," agreed Matt. Morgan stepped out frm the shadows. "Darius Anton. Yoi are under arrest in the name of the Atlantis government." he said, drawing a sky blue ion blade. "You gotta be kidding." said Matt, gloomily.

"Well, at least we know we're on the right side," said Draco. Suddenly, a torrent of purple fire came from above. The group looked up to see a purple wyvern-like creature with silver hair and wing membranes above them. "Oh great...you had to jinx us, Draco." said Matt. Zyvar laughed. "Another atlantean...I knew something smelled wrong about you, Morgan." he said, coldly. "Your people died so easily when Atlantis burnt...it was a shame I had to open the way for Devina...I missed it." he said, evilly.

"True...but I find work as I can get it...and power beats their hippy attitude every day of the week." said Zyvar. "No, no, no," said Matt abruptly, "You're doing your taunting all wrong." Zyvar turned to look at a wierd little human...no, a shar-virk judging from his smell, walking towards him. "If you take the shit outta someone you want to really upset them. For example...I think you're a complete waste of reality with the brain power of a rock and all the social grace of a zombie dung beetle." the human said. Morgan just stared. Even Zyvar was speechless.

"You have a rather pestering tongue, human," growled Zyvar. "Yeah, I get that all the time," said Matt. Zyvar growled and told the Shar-Virk, "Don't just stand there, kill them! But I'm dealing with this one myself." He sent another stream of purple flames at Matt.

Matt dodged the blast with all the practise that Zyvars future self would provide and brought his own ion blade up in time to lock it in Zyvars claws. "I'll enjoy killing you." said Zyvar and was surprised when Matt said "The usual threat then?"

The rest of the gang were doing ok. Morgan was blade to blade with Anton and the other shar-virk had been inconvenienced when Techo and Wilson had sniped at them from an alley with their pulse rifles. Techo managed to shoot a trooper sneaking up on Chip. "You not gonna fight?" he said.

"I can't exactly swing properly with these milkjugs in the way," said Chixie. "Its a gun...not an...oof." said Techo as a Shar-Virk tackled him and started trying to dig his transformed hands into Techo's throat. Techo's gun had slid over to sit at Chixies feet. "Shoot...him." said Techo desperately. Chixie picked up the gun and made a very precise shot at the Shar-Virk's frontal lobe.

The Shar-virk just stared, a surprised look on his face before slumping sideways. Techo got up unsteadily and saw Chips gaze. "Hey...it was him us us, Mate." he said, taking the gun gently out of chixies hands.

"I know, but I usually just stun bad guys, not kill them," said Chixie, "and if I do kill them, they're usually robots." "You think he woulda cared about us?" said Techo.

--

Matt dodged another blast, chased by the now furious Zyvar. "Whats wrong? Your eyes rotting already?" Matt taunted. "I"ll have you know that I'm in mint condition," said Ghoulwyrm as he swooped down and tried to rake Matt's back with his claws. Matt dodged the slash and watched as Zyvar/Ghoulwyrm went head first into a smithy. "Oh...so tempting...so why bother not too?" Matt siad and threw a plasma ball into the smith, causing it to explode.

Matt was pretty sure that Zyvar was done for until he saw him coming out of the flames, with several gaping wounds in his body. "You think I can be rid of that easily?" said Zyvar, "I'm a dracopyre, fool. I can heal myself." Matt watched as Ghoulwyrm's wounds started to heal up.

Matt remembered what had happened to alternate Zyvar back in the library before he had been vaporised and sat down on a pile of wood. "Haha...you cower before me?" said Zyvar. Matt shrugged. "Nah...waiting for the show to start."

"Show? What are you talking about-" Suddenly, Zyvar's skin started crawling, as if something was underneath of it. "What is happening?" he exclaimed. "Beats me," said Matt, "I blew you up before anything more could happen." Matt's preview of Ghoulwyrm mark 2 was interrupted as another unfortunately familier face appeared.

A brown anthro dragoness flew down from above, an ion blade in her hand. "Alright traitor," said past Seleni, "You're going to hang for your crimes against-" "Yeah, yeah, I'll get to you," said Matt, "Can you save it until after Zyvar's finished mutating or going through metamorphosis, or whatever the hell it is?"

Seleni looked over at Zyvar in shock but when she turned back she noticed the newcomer had exited stage left. Morgan had managed to floor Anton when he heard Zyvar's roar. "You live for now, traitor...lets go."

Zyvar was officially freaking out. Black and white tentacles were poking out of his skin on various parts of his body. His skin itself was falling off to be replaced grey, clammy skin. His wings' membranes were being ripped apart by bandage-like tendrils coming out. His screams of pain grew even louder when organic metal constructs bloodily erupted out of his back.

His once-handsome face shrivel and lost hair until it became a bleached skull. A horn with a mouth at the end of it forced its way up through its forehead, giving him excruciating pain. His eyes flashed purple once before his cries cut off with a strangled hiss. Then he fell over, dead as a doornail.

Seleni walked over to him slowly and poked him with her ion staff. "Oh boy...Malefors going to blow a fuse." she said. "Well, it's not like anyone liked him anyways," said Anton, after he kicked Morgan away. "What the hell happened to him?"

Morgan looked over at Matt who looked, to his personal confusion, pleased. "Good riddance to bad rubbish." said Techo. "Ok, that's enough for now," said Morgan as he pulled out a device, "The dragons are free, our mission's accomplished." Before Anton and Seleni could respond, there was a bright flash of light.

**--**

Matt was the first to get his eyesight back. They weren't in the town anymore. "Wow." he said. The place they were in was almost a miniature version of Warfang. "Welcome to Avalon." said Morgan, smugly. "Nice gadget," said Techo, "How'd it get us here and not those jerks?" "You wouldn't believe us if we told you," said Cynder. "Try me," said Morgan. "Ok then," said Matt, "You may want to sit down to hear this."

--

Meanwhile, Spyro was chained to prevent his escape. And he had been very desperate to escape anyways, not wanting to know what Malefor was planning for him.

Devina was sat opposite him. "Come now...all you need you need to do is say why you are here and how you know me. I know quite well that there is only ever one purple dragon per generation." she said, the very definition of a friendly tone. "I know what you'd do with that information as soon as you've got it," said Spyro, "You're not having it or me."

Devina smiled coldly and leant down to look at him. "Can you look me in the eye and say that?" she said, her eyes starting to glow.

**The gang have arrived, thrown a monkey wrench into Devina's plan and found a ally. Spyro looks like he may be in for a hard time though if they don't move fast. Tune in next time.**


	14. Past Imperfect pt 3

**Spyro, Cynder, and all other Spyro related characters are property of Sierra studios. **

**Draco, Contrinus, Chip and Cydra are property of my co-author, Cydra. **

**Matt, his merc team, the NSC and related tech, the ancients/atlanteans and malefors dragon generals are mine.**

**CPS Chronicles: Forgotten Blood**

**Chapter 14: Past Imperfect pt 3**

Cynder looked around at the tall buildings around her. They reminded her so much of the architecture of Warfang, but it was made of metal and looked more high-tech. "I can see your designs have been influenced by Avalarian customs," said Cynder.

"Oh...I suppose we influenced each other," said the earth dragon next to her. His name was Xavier, one of the dragons living on the island. "It was originally a defense bunker for the Atlantis council. When the war with the old ones ended, we converted it to a colony for...us," he said, seemingly about to slip up before remembering something.

"So how were you able to build this city?" asked Cynder, "I don't think the moles helped here."

"Oh...the Atlanteans helped out alot. They can work wonders..." he said, before looking into a pool. "...in some areas."

"So, how long have you been living here?" asked Cynder. "60 years," said Xavier, "Ever since I've...retired from the army."

Cynder looked up at Xavier. "You don't act like most dragons," she said. Xavier chuckled. "Your friends, they're Shar-khan. You'll probably live to see what I mean," he said and left it at that.

Just then, both dragons heard loud shouting not too far away. "What's going on?" asked Cynder. "From the sounds of it, I think your friends are having an argument with Morgan," said Xavier.

It was indeed an argument. Morgan and Matt were practically screaming at each other. "I WILL NOT SACRIFIC IMPORTANT DEFENCE RESOURCES ON A...SUICIDE MISSION!" yelled Morgan. "AND I'M SAYING THAT IF WE DON'T DO SOMETHING, WE'RE ALL DONE FOR!" shouted Matt. "ONE DRAGON VERSUS 5000! DO THE MATHS!" replied Morgan, angrily. "IT'S JUST A SURGICAL STRIKE! WE SNEAK IN, WE SNEAK OUT!" snapped Matt.

"NO!" said Morgan before taking a deep breath. "No...This is the last Atlantis facility left. We lost Nirvana City last week and the last spaceport with it. This portal, once it's online, is our only escape," he said, pointing to the arch in the middle of the town square.

"Those creeps aren't going to give us the chance to escape," said Matt, also lowering his voice, "They'll come in and obliterate us before that happens." "And what does that have to do with your wild goose chase?" asked Morgan. Matt said "I told you, he's a purple dragon. You think Malefor is bad? You wait till there's double the fun."

"That may be a problem, but I doubt you'd be able to sneak into Malefor's lair without setting off all the alarms," said Morgan, "I respect that you wish to rescue your teammate, but there's not sensible way to do it."

Matt glared. "For a Shar-khan...you're a wuss," he said. Morgan abruptly punched Matt in the face. Matt groaned and tried to put his nose back in position. "I figured I'd break this thing at some point during this crazy trip," he said nasally.

"You drak'nk." said Morgan. "You have no idea. You weren't at Danavor Port..." he said, coldly, "You leave this town...don't come back." "No need to resort to slander," said Matt, "We're going, we're going."

When the others came out, Cynder asked, "Just what happened in there?"

"Apparently Spyro is 'a waste of defensive resources'," said Matt coldly. "I see," said Cynder, "So we can't expect any backup from Morgan, right?" "Nope...and if we leave we are in trouble, you heard Morgan," said Chloe. Matt was smirking. "You know, you think people would know I'm good at nicking stuff." he said, holding up what looked like one of Morgan's teleporter device. He'd stolen it when Morgan had made the mistake of leaning forward.

"Not bad," said Chloe, "But I suggest you come up with a plan for how to use it before Morgan figures out he's been pick pocketed." Matt tossed it to Chip. "Chip? Would you?" "You can't really expect me to just fix any bit of tech that falls into my hand," said Chip, "That's just plain stereo- Wait, I've got it." "So, we go in, grab Spyro. Be back before anyone notices we were gone," said Matt.

Suddenly Morgan's voice yelled, "Hey! Where is my teleporter?" "Uh, scratch that last remark," said Matt, "Time to warp." Four of Morgan's men, probably Shar-Khan themselves, came running round the corner with the man himself. "Stop those guys!" he yelled, pointing at them. "Bye," said Matt cheekily, as they vanished

--

The groups' vision came back to find themselves in some kind of alleyway. "Whoa, was that a rush," said Wilson as he rubbed his temples, "You sure this is the right place?" Matt wandered out of the alley and peered around curiously. A couple of dragons, barely teenagers were standing near the end of the street, wearing armor.

Their eyes, however, were all wrong, glowing creepily. "That's why," said Matt as Chloe shifted to dragon form. The first of the guards came up. "Humans, what are you doing out after curfew?"

"Curfew? What curfew?" asked Kala. "Humans aren't allowed out at any other time after noon. Lady Devina's orders. There are Atlantis special forces in the city."

"Noon? Can't it be at six like the other cites?" asked Draco. "Shut up, human," said the other dragon guard, cruelly. "Er, they're with us," said Cynder, "We've got errands to run and it helps to have people with pose-able hands." The first guard looked at Cynder. "Fine, make sure they have visible permission next time." The second guard said, "Lady Devina has a presentation in the square...everyone is to attend, no exceptions." Matt watched the guards walk off and said, "Phew, that was close." "We're going to need some disguises," said Techo.

The square was packed. It seemed that Cynder wasn't the only dragon with 'human helpers', but apart from that the majority was being kept separate from the dragons. Luckily, it turned out that there were several Shar-Virk around the city and Matt n co had found a group that could 'donate' their uniforms

"I hope this works," muttered Matt.

While in dragon form, he called out, "Hey boys! Look what I got here!" He pulled Draco into view, who said, "Hey, where are the white women at?" The guards looked at each other and then ran at Draco, who managed to 'slip' from Matt's grasp and head back into an alley.

The group ran round the corner and stopped. They didn't recognize the collection of devices, but they knew an assault rifle when it was aimed at their kidneys. "Oh, not again," said one guard.

A brief scuffle later, the gang walked out, wearing their 'new' uniforms. "Where are the white women at?" questioned Matt. "It was the first thing that popped into my mind," said Draco. "You didn't really mean that, did you?" said Contrinus with a slightly threatening tone. "Of course not," said Draco quickly, "You know you're the only one for me."

Matt and Chip both said "Wuss." under their breaths. They got a good look at the square. "What the hell's the big deal?" muttered Matt. "Well, it certainly isn't any street performers," said Kala, "Except to that guy over there who's doing the living statue impression." "That's a robot," said Techo.

It was indeed a robot. Matt could sense the plasma humming in the cannons that made up its arms as it turned to look at them. "Nobody panic, we're not on any record here," said Matt quietly.

"It's weird, I didn't use to have any fear of those things," said Chip, "But now I feel vulnerable to them."

"That's the feeling of no built-in body armor," said Matt. The square opened up onto a large wall topped with a lightning field like the one used at Cynder's tower. The huge gates opened slowly to reveal a double dozen of Shar-irk and dragon guards and... "Devina." said Matt and Cynder at the same time. Both of them had a reason to hate her, even though she hadn't done it yet.

"So that's what she looks like," said Draco, "Didn't really get to see here before." "Me neither," said Kala.

Devina stepped aside a second later to reveal Spyro walking forward in a daze between two dragon guards. He looked like he'd been at the same mushrooms Matt and Kala had found.

"This is the new future of our world," said Devina, "He shall be Malefor's heir when he, if ever, dies. Until then, Spyro shall be his second-in-command." Matt and Chloe luckily apparently had some extremely low psy-rating and managed to subtly grab Cynder as she tried to go forward.

"Not now," muttered Chloe, "We have to be discreet." "Right," said Matt, "You can get that dragon bitch later." "Seems a little puny to be second-in-command," shouted one of the Shar-Virk. "True," said Devina, "But we have a way to fix that." She closed her eyes and a third eye opened up in her forehead.

Matt gulped. The last time that had been used, Draconus had gotten a free 'get out of jail' pass. pyro also seemed to come out of it and started struggling for a minute till his eyes fell on Devina fully, then he fell into the same stupor as before.

"Well, this can't be good," said Chloe. "Don't look directly into it," said Matt as he partially turned his head away. Cynder didn't look away however as Spyro's eyes started glowing, the same glow that spread over Spyro entirely.

"Ok, that's unusual," said Techo and they all nearly jumped with surprise when Spyro started to surge in size. Within seconds, he was almost the same size as Cynder had been outside Pariah. The glow faded from his body to reveal the same Spyro they had met at the alternate Warfang.

"Ok, this is a bigger problem," said Contrinus, "No pun intended."

"Contrinus is right. We need a plan that's better than 'shoot everyone'," said Chip who suddenly made a funny face. "Oh, great, not the best time."

The others quickly crowded around him. "Keep out sight," muttered Matt, "Nothing raises more suspicion than someone transforming, especially if it's into the opposite sex." That surprised the guard who had been to near and had been swept up. "Does that mean I can go?" he said nervously. "Uh, sure, keep your head down," said Matt. The guard ran off and just in time too.

--

The group had managed to find a quiet area in view of the fortress. "Ok...place is kitted out like Kryos," said Matt, after an hour of watching the patrols. "I wish NegaMorph were here," said Chloe. "I don't," said Wilson. "You don't?" asked Cynder. "Can you imagine that guy as a human?"

The group all stopped. "Hmm...Igor lookalike?" Matt said and ducked Chloe's punch. "Obviously," said Draco, "This is going to involve a lot of stealth... Well, that eliminates sending Matt in." "HEY!" yelled Matt, angrily. Chloe said, "That might be the only option though. Thing's built of granite from the looks of things," she said.

"No problem," said Chixie, "I'll just hack into the computer system and... Oh wait, I'm all flesh. Darn it."

Techo pulled out a spare wrist computer. "Use that," he said.

"Thanks, you're such a sweetie," said Chixie, "Maybe you could take me out to dinner sometime." The whole group froze as they realized what happened. "This moment never happened," said Techo. The group nodded, the most desperate one coming from Chixie who's brain had just told her what she'd said.

"I do have an idea, but we'll need that energy field knocked out," said Matt, "Somewhere like that will need food deliveries."

"What? You plan to bring in a pizza?" said Draco. "Not really, but who'll notice a few more servants around?" said Matt "Wait a sec," said Chixie, "I found a gap in the security field. You should be able to sneak in there."

--

The inside of the main fortress was an extreme change from the half-ruined area outside, in good repair. Unfortunately, there were dozens of the tank bots Matt and Cynder had met at Avalar the dam those years ago. "Careful. They pack a wallop," said Matt as two tank bots rumbled past the groups hiding place.

"I'm surprised those things can fit inside these halls," said Draco. "Maybe if we can keep behind them, we can sneak around them," said Draco. "Oh please," said Chixie, "That only works in videogames." To prove that, one of the droids rotated its torso 180 degree's to look behind it for the moment.

The group waited until it had turned the corner out of sight. "Ok..." said Matt and the group ran for an open door. Two human servants were cleaning the corridor as they came in. They looked terrified as the group arrived.

"Relax," said Matt, "We're here to... make sure those rumors about plague weasels sneaking in with the food are not true." The two humans just ran off down the corridor. "Oh hell," said Matt. "I said we shoulda let Matt sit this out," said Chloe.

--

Meanwhile, Devina approached Malefor in his throne room. "Ah, Devina," said Malefor, "What's the news with our ally-to-be?" "Slow," said Devina, "He's proving rather hard to crack." "How loyal is he at the moment?" said Malefor. For a second, his image flickered. A Shar-Virk wandered over to the throne stand and kicked it, making the image stabilize. "Taleth says the Atlantis navy is still trying to cut Avalar off and there is no sign of the Atlantis special force that Taleth says landed," Devina said.

A dragon with silver scales stepped forward and said, "We're doing the best we can." Malefor glared at the dragon. "Please look human, Taleth," he said coldly. The dragon shrugged and shimmered into a human form. "Look. These guys we're looking for, they might have already been here. The drop was probably just gear. They could be in this room with us," he said. Malefor sighed. "Fine, just kill them when you find them."

"By the way," said Malefor, "How is our purple friend doing?" "Well, I've gotten Spyro to obey most of our orders now," said Devina. "No, not him, Zyvar," said Malefor, "Although it's good to know that I have another purple dragon on my side. Very good indeed."

Another Shar-Virk in human form came in. "Sirs. We have a serious problem. Someone shut down section 4." he said. "Then go and deal with it, simpleton," snapped Malefor. As soon as the Shar-Virk left, Malefor said, "Now, what about Zyvar?" "A Miss Echidra will be here by tomorrow. She is a skilled necromancer. I know her from a year ago. If anyone can get Zyvar on his feet again, she can." said Taleth.

--

Several guards got to one of the doors and one opened the door to see Techo, Draco and Wilson holding rifles. "Hi," said Wilson. The guard slammed the door and dived for cover as pulse rounds shot through the door, hitting his squad mates. He turned dragon and crawled into a side room to see three dragons facing him. "You look tired," said the dark blue one, "You should take a nap." He whacked the guard on the head, causing him to topple over unconscious.

Matt looked at the others. "Hey. At least we got in," he said. Chloe sighed. "Why didn't you ask for directions?" she said, head in her paw. "Why ask for directions? We've got a perfectly good map," said Matt. Chip sighed. "They caught on to me, turned off their connections. But if I'm right, it's this way," he said.

Meanwhile, Spyro was pacing around his room. "How did I get in here again?" he said to himself. "Should I leave or stay? Am I supposed to be waiting for somebody?" He stumbled for a second. It was like he wasn't used to being so big, but that couldn't be right. There was distant gunfire. Lady Devina had mentioned some intruders.

"I better go deal with them," said Spyro, "Or could they be my rescuers? Why would I need rescuing? Ugh, I'm so confused." Suddenly the door flew, open, one of Taleth's men, staggering back as energy bolts hit him, until he slumped down. A black dragoness and a human holding a rifle came in. "Spyro?" said the black dragoness hopefully.

Spyro stared at the black dragoness. She looked like Lady Devina, but rather different. And there was something awfully familiar about her. "Do I...know you?" asked Spyro. "Spyro...it's me, Cynder...don't you know me? Please...we can't be too late," said the dragoness, eyes tearing up.

"Cynder, that name seems so extremely familiar," said Spyro, "If only I can remember..." "What can you remember?" asked the human. Spyro thought about it and said, "Actually, the only thing I can clearly remember is the last couple of minutes in this room. The rest I'm not so sure about." "Let me guess, your clearest memories are just after Devina see's you?" said the human.

"What exactly are you implying?" said Spyro, sounding slightly angry. "Devina's playing blender with your memories. She did the same to my brother," said the human. The one known as Cynder nodded. "Chloe's right. Devina's evil. She's just using you to make you a pawn for Malefor."

"No, that can't be right," said Spyro, "Devina wouldn't manipulate me like that. You must be lying!"

Chloe sighed. "Do you remember Draconus? The one who almost killed me and Cynder? He's impossible to forget...not someone like him," she said.

Spyro groaned and said, "I can't get a clear picture of anything. So many memories, I don't know if they were mine. Was I ever dancing with a hippo named Clarence?" The two looked at each other. "I don't think so...though the holodeck did short circuit once," said Chloe. Cynder said, "I remember how you helped me back when I nearly fell back into darkness...please."

Spyro shut his eyes and said, "I'm trying! It's so hard to think clearly! Oh, I think I'm getting a migraine."

Just then, two Shar-Virk guards arrived and said, "Freeze! You two are under arrest!" Chloe looked worried at the guards, one who held a blader against Cynder. The other said, "My lord. Are you ok?"

Spyro shook his head and said, "I am now..."

--

The group got to the throne room doors and knocked it open. Well...knocked it open was an understatement. Matt blew it off its hinges. That was quite useful as it knocked down the guards holding the door shut. "Ok. Everyone drop their weapons and spells," said Matt, who over the years had learnt a modification of the usual 'drop the guns'.

"Actually, I think it is you who should drop your weapons," said Devina, who was holding Chloe in her claws. Matt glared at the people in the room. Most of them people he'd have the misfortune to meet again. Taleth, Anton, Devina, even Malefor was there. Cynder was between two transformed Shar-Virk and adult Spyro was there too. "Holster them," Matt said after a pause.

The group reluctantly put their weapons away. "I might have known something like this would happen," said Chixie. Matt glared at Malefor. "Ah...captain tosspot. Lording it over us," he said. His eye still stung from where he'd received the slashes.

"You're not in a very good position to be insulting anyone," said Malefor, "That is, unless you don't have a connection with this human female." "Oh...never said that...but I know for a fact she'd kill me if I didn't try anything, gecko man," said Matt.

"Shall we throw them into the dungeon?" asked Taleth. "Do you not like your hearing?" said Matt, happily. Spyro said, "Maybe we should see what they know?" "A good idea," said Malefor, "Let's see, which one should we strip their mind apart?"

Devina looked at Chloe. "Why not start with the closest?" she said. "Don't you dare," said Matt darkly. Taleth looked over at him. "I think we found our Atlantis hit team." he said, sensing the Shar-khan energy emitting from Matt.

That momentarily put Matt off his guard. "What? We're not- Ow!" Kala had quickly kicked him and said, "Yes, you found us out." Malefor sighed. "Tear his associate's head off...as an exam..." he began and his image flickered as Matt knocked Taleth aside and lunged at him, falling through the hologram. "Ok...unexpected," he said, against the wall.

"Do we have to do that?" said Spyro, "Couldn't we extract the information by less gruesome means?"

"Examples must be made...DO NOT QUESTION ME AGAIN!" roared Malefor. "I will expect a report." he added before vanishing.

Just then, Chloe sent a shock of electricity through Devina's leg. "Ow!" she yelled and dropped Chloe. Devina turned to Spyro and said, "Destroy her!" "But Devina-" started Spyro but was stopped when Devina turned her hypnotic eye on him.

Cynder blasted one of her guards with a shadow fire blast and sent the other reeling with a banshee blast and heard the battle roar as the now, brainwashed Spyro prepared a fire blast to hit Matt's team.

"Spyro! No!" yelled Cynder. She surged to adult size and tackled Spyro.

The Shar-Virk all pulled out ion blades or transformed. "Take them apart." said Taleth as they lunged. Draco as knocked down by a female fire Shar-Virk in dragon form. "Last words, scum?" she said, eyes glittering with insanity.

"I have a jealous mate?" said Draco. "What's that supposed to-" The Shar-Virk was knocked out when Contrinus smashed a vase against her head. Chloe however was exchanging ion blades with Taleth. "You fight good for a newly changed...want a job?" said Taleth, smoothly.

"And work with an oily creep like you? Forget it," said Chloe. "Ah well...I tried." said Taleth and doubled the attack. Matt however was having an extremely bad day. Both Devina and Anton were on his case. "Two vs one? Not fair," he said, blocking a blade slash from Anton before being forced to roll to avoid a stomp from Devina.

"If you had stayed in your proper place, you wouldn't have to die," said Devina, "Like your friend over there." Matt looked to see Janeth was about to spear Kala through with his blade. Matt put his hand up and the same boomerang of plasma he'd made during the banshee base escape shot out, knocking Janeth over in shock. "LEAVE HER ALONE!" yelled Matt.

Devina immediately sensed the danger and try to take Matt out with a psychic attack, but was repelled the enormous amount of anger Matt was feeling. "Get...out of my head...once...is enough," snarled Matt, angrily. A faint blue heat haze began to appear around him. Anton saw what was happening. "Devina?" he said, backing up towards a heavy pillar.

"I think that's his Fury attack charging," said Devina fearfully. Chloe saw it in time to kick Taleth back and yell. "COVER!" Matt yelled with an extremely dragon-like roar, sending a wave of blue-white hot plasma in all directions, sending Devina into the roof hard enough to smash it and knocking down or incinerating any of the Shar-Virk still in view.

When the attack finally ended, Draco, Chixie, and Contrinus looked up to see half-melted walls and a fuming Matt in dragon form. "Wow," said Draco, "What a bang!" Matt was advancing on the unconscious Devina. "Oh...so tempting," he said, readying as plasma orb in his paw.

"Matt, don't!" shouted Chloe, "Destroyed her could damage the timestream as much as Spyro being corrupted." Matt glared at Devina. "I'll get you...one day." he said, extinguishing the plasma orb. "Damn...he's ok, Cynder," said Techo, looking at the unconscious Spyro. He'd caught a good part of the blast but as luckily just covered in soot.

"Ok, let's get him out of here before the whole city is upon us," said Chixie. There were already distant footsteps, headed for their location. "Chixie, can you tune us back to Avalon? They got the only arch." said Chloe.

"I'm trying," said Chixie, "It's not as easy as it looks. Stupid girly fingers." The teleporter orb luckily activated just as a group of dragon guards burst in, led by a familiar, if unwelcome face. "You!" growled Ghoulwyrm and he swung his clawed hand at Matt. It was mere inches from cleaving his face off when he disappeared with the rest.

It didn't help Ghoulwyrm's mood that Matt stuck his tongue out as he vanished, leaving an echoing laugh. "GRAH! IF I EVER SEE HIM AGAIN..." he started. "Oh, shut up, Zyvar," said Taleth, getting up, "I slipped a tracer on that idiot's sister. Should have a signal...any tiiiime...there we go. Someone get a healer to wake up Devina."

Devina was just barely becoming conscious. "Little wimp, big boom, ears hurt..." Unfortunately, the first thing she was Ghoulwyrm. "Ah! Zombie dragon!"

Ghoulwyrm sighed. "Yes. I know, I died, I got better, get over it!" he said. Apparently Devina's reaction was not the first.

"Can't say much for your appearance," said Taleth, "Especially since you practically have no skin on your skull." Ghoulwyrm growled and swung his fist at Taleth. To both of their surprise, the fist went right through Taleth's head.

Taleths eyes crossed. "Eurgh. Don't do that again," he said. Seleni said, "What was it like?" Taleth shuddered. "Like having an egg yolk in my skull."

Ghoulwyrm started at his hand. "Hmm, it appears that my undead status made me more powerful than I thought."

"Good, given I have a portal sized headache, YOU can make sure I'm safe while Taleth demolishes Avalon. But bring those little pests back..and Spyro back ALIVE AND UNHARMED!" said Devina.

Ghoulwyrm growled slightly and walked into the corridor. "I just learn I have more powers than before and what's the first thing I'm assigned? Guard duty! Talk about under-appreciation."

Devina snarled. "Then take it up with Malefor. I'm sure he'll be happy to listen," she said, angrily, her headache not helping her temper.

One of Ghoulwyrm's eyes slid down one of the grooves on his neck to glare back at her. "Perhaps I will. He'll probably see me as more useful than... Wait, how did I do that?"

"Just go make sure I am not disturbed unless it's a message from Lord Malefor. If you get it wrong..." she said and made the shadows grab Ghoulwyrm. "...I'll make you wish you never resurrected," before slamming the door.

Ghoulwyrm snarled and muttered, "Bodyguard duty. As if a creature like me should ever sink so low. Maybe I'd be better off without those wyrms riding on my tail." He was just settling down when four Shar-Virk in full armor walked round the corner. "Out the way, lich. We have business in there," said one.

"No one gets to see Devina, not nobody, not no how," said Ghoulwyrm in a bored tone. "Uh, did we mention we have a message from Malefor to Devina?" said another. "Like I'd fall for that," said Ghoulwyrm.

"It comes with a leg of mutton," said another. "Ok, go on in," said Ghoulwyrm, moving aside.

Devina woke up to see four Shar-Virk, one welding the door shut with a blast of flame. "What's the big idea?" she said. The leader walked forward. "I am Arceon Vornis. I believe you have been searching for me and my men."

"Yeah, yeah, so what's the message already?" said Devina, "I am not in a happy mood today."

Vornis made a motion with his hand and several blocks of ice formed around Devina's paws. "You misunderstand. I am Arceon Vornis of the 5th column. We've come to give you what you deserve."

"What is that meaning of this? Release me at once! Zyvar!" shouted Devina as she struggled to break free of the ice.

One of Vornis's men pulled out pieces of a staff and began clicking them together. Vornis continued. "You are charged with mass murder, conspiracy to cause extinction of our people, we have a special punishment in mind."

"You think you can kill me with that little stick?" said Devina. "Who said anything about killing you, but the technomancy guild say it'll hurt," said Vornis, taking the staff off his associate and aiming it at Devina.

--

Ghoulwyrm jumped as he heard a scream from Devina's room. Ghoulwyrm phased through the door and said, "What's going on in here?" Devina was slumped in the corner, eyes glazed. The lead human in the room was holding a glowing gem. "Oh...hello, lich." the guy said and sent a blast of ice at Ghoulwyrm before he could react.

Ghoulwyrm may be undead, but he was still as vulnerable to the cold as any cold-blooded creature. Within seconds, he was trapped in a solid block of ice. Then Vornis pulled out his communicator and spoke into it, "This is Vornis reporting in. The staff worked like a charm."

--

Matt's vision came back to see the skyline of Avalon...oh and several dozen Atlantis soldiers and Morgan. "You got a nerve..." said Morgan, before seeing the unconscious Spyro. "And that was all without a single drop of kr'ta," said Matt proudly.

"I have a feeling you were late," said Morgan, "You said he was a kid. Someone call Xavier."

"Well, I don't think he was corrupted all the way," said Cynder, "Just really, really, confused." Morgan looked at Cynder and said, "Didn't you used to be a lot shorter last time I saw you?"

Matt looked up. "Yeah, I think shrinking is a good idea." Cynder shook her head. "What if he wakes up and tries to attack us?"

"Well then, I'll come along to make sure he doesn't go rampant," said Matt, "Besides, I...kinda missed out on self-control training." At those words, Morgan turned a nasty glare on him. "Just...keep your temper."

--

When Spyro came to, his head was throbbing. "Oh," he groaned, "What size was that club?" He managed to get a good look and see Cynder. "YOU!" he said, jumping up, ready to fight again, before simply slumping down, from sheer exhaustion. "Easy, young one. We're not your enemies," said a second voice behind him.

Spyro looked behind him to see an earth dragon. "What's going on here?" asked Spyro. "We're here to help you settle your memories," said the earth dragon.

"I am Xavier, formerly of the Atlantis special hybrid force. You have been an unfortunate guest of General Devina," said the earth dragon. "What do you mean 'unfortunate'?" said Spyro. "She's been trying to brainwash you," said Cynder, "Don't you remember her mesmerizing you before you blacked out?"

Spyro shook his head. There was a flash, of a arch, falling through a strange tunnel and falling into a clearing. Humans grabbing him, a large black dragon with a glowing third eye. "Ugh, I don't know what's real anymore," said Spyro. "Well, we're going to help you find out," said Xavier.

Meanwhile, Techo was busy fiddling with some spare parts. "I still think this whole 'future' thing's too farfetched," said Morgan, who was watching, "Even if your friend did switch sexes before my eyes." "Well it isn't a picnic for me, pal," said Chip.

Techo clicked the last thing into place and part of it to Chip's old body. "Ok...here ya go, Chip," he said, tossing it over.

"It'll be so great to be genderless again," said Chip, "The size increase was a plus, but the hormones are just unbearable." Chip pushed a button on the reality generator and there was a bright flash of light.

Morgan looked on as Chip's human form glowed and shot into the tin shape on the floor next to it. "Ok…what was that? A vaporization?" he said, a bit skeptical, poking the metal body with his foot.

"Hey! Watch it!" said the metal body as he pushed his foot away, "Just because I'm small doesn't mean I can punt around."

Morgan jumped back. "Ok...so part of your story fits, but the part about the colony..." "It's true. I saw it in a history scroll myself," said Chip, getting up unsteadily. One of Morgan's troopers said, "Nonsense. This whole colony is secret."

"For the moment," said Chip, "But I'm getting a feeling they may this place at some point in the future."

Just then, they heard a familiar voice yelling, "Get your hands off me! I don't need to be shoved around!" Then a soldier came in with Chloe. "Sir," said the soldier, "We've found a tracking device on her. It's Shar-Virk in design." "Ok, before you fly off the handle," said Techo, "I'm pretty sure that it was slipped on her during the fight."

Morgsn looked at Chloe. "For old one's sake, Aniko. Let her go...and get double teams on the scanner stations." "That's the trouble. Long range picked up one of Taleth's ships approaching. It'll be here within the hour."

Morgan rubbed his forehead and groaned, "Well that's just peachy? Anything else? Is there a sea serpent in the bay?"

"No...but it looks like Taleth brought alot of friends," said the trooper. Morgan waited till his men had gone he sighed. "You said the colony was destroyed...no survivors found."

"I'm afraid so," said Chip, "However, it did compare the incident to something similar. I think it was Roanoke Colony or something?"

"That was just a screw up with a time warp...sent em forward 300 years," said Techo before stopping.

Techo turned to Morgan and said, "Sir, how big is the portal arch?"

"It was designed originally for bulk military, back when this was a military outpost...hmm," said Morgan.

"I suggest you get everybody together for mass evacuation," said Techo, "We wanna disappear before they drop the bomb on us."

"If nobody is there to put up some form of resistance, they'll catch on...hit us faster," said Morgan. He said something in Atlantean into a device on his wrist. "I will return...make sure your friends go through."

--

Chloe and Matt hurried to find Spyro and Cynder. "Too bad we can't stay here," said Matt, "I know it's like an eon until our time, but this is still our home world." "Uh, Matt," said Kala, "You do remember what will happen with Draco and Kala when we get back, right?"

Matt didn't look at Chloe and when he spoke it sounded strained, "Yeah. I know." "Matt, we will find a way to get rid of Avarona for good," said Chloe, "Things will be back to normal. You'll see." "I hope so, I really do," said Matt as they arrived at where Xavier had said to take Spyro.

They saw Spyro sitting in front of Xavier in a trance. Xavier had his eyes closed, but a third in his forehead was starting at Spyro. Only instead of it being red like Devina's, it was blue.

"Do you know exactly what's going on?" whispered Chloe to Cynder. "I don't know. He said Devina shut away Spyro's memories and that he's trying to release them again," said Cynder, the anxiety clear in her voice. "How long has this been going on? We kinda have visitors," said Chloe.

"It's been going on for 10 minutes, but I think they've still got some time to go," said Cynder.

"Can we tell them to step on it?" asked Matt. Xavier said in a slow voice, "This cannot be rushed, I must remove the dark energy as well."

The trio watched as Spyro slowly started to shrink. But he wasn't just losing height, he was losing years.

Finally Spyro had shrunken back to his usual age and size. Xavier stepped away from him and Cynder walked up to him. "Spyro?" she said softly.

Spyro blinked and shook his head. "Remind me to never get into a staring contest with Devina," said Spyro.

"Okay," said Cynder then hugged Spyro as close as she could. "I thought I was going to lose you," she said.

"I guess I understand what it was like for you now," said Spyro, "But I won't cross that bridge ever again."

Chloe smiled at the scene before looking over at Matt who was just staring, gloomily. "Matt...it'll be o..." she began before a boom shook the room and a siren began ringing.

The group ran outside and saw several Shar-Virk ships floating over the city. "Oh, that's just great," said Matt sarcastically.

There were still plenty of people, both dragons and humans running around in panic. It wasn't helping that the main road into the city was now a battleground. A dozen or so droids were marching forward on a force of grublins and Shar-Virk that were trying to force their way into the city.

"We better round up the others," said Matt, "We'll need everyone to get through the portal."

A group of Shar-Virk came round the corner, led by Seleni came round the corner. "There they are! Spare the purple one and kill the others!" she yelled. "Oh boy," said Matt. "We don't have time for this," said Chloe as she tossed a lightning ball at the Shar-Virk.

The blast knocked the Shar-Virk, it hit into a fountain which made the shock worse. Matt sent a blast of plasma out that knocked another one down while Seleni made the mistake of homing in on Cynder. "Out the way, kid," she said, readying an acid orb in one hand and her blade in the other, completely oblivious to how Matt and Chloe were knocking her support team around like ten pins.

"You're not the only one with poison powers," said Cynder as she slashed her glowing green claws at Seleni. Seleni jumped back. "Oh...the hatchling has bite," she taunted, walking back and nearly falling over Spyro.

Seleni turned and saw Spyro. "Ok, kid, you're coming with me," she said. "I am not going anywhere with the likes of you," said Spyro and breathed out an inferno of flames. Seleni yelped and tried to bat out the flames on her arm, only to be tripped up by Cynder and knocking herself out on the floor.

Spyro looked at Cynder and asked, "Wasn't she the one that gave a really hard time?" "According to NegaMorph," said Cynder, "But I don't see how she would have been that hard." "We'll have to ask Matt about that," said Spyro.

Matt finished off the Shar-Virk in front of him in time to see them knock Seleni out. "Nice one," he called before a distant explosion was heard. "Ok...time to go...Chip, Techo...you got our ticket home ready?" "Almost," said Techo, "Do you guys have Draco, Contrinus, or Wilson?"

"Wilsons bringing them. We have definitely outstayed our welcome," said Matt as a Shar-Virk vessel flew overhead, firing on buildings.

The group headed through the streets, headed back for the arch room. Dozens of grublins were all over the place. The way was eventually blocked when the last approach was chocked with grublins. "Ok...not good." said Chloe. A grublin turned and snarled, getting the attention of the rest. "Definitely not good," said Matt.

Suddenly, a mutlicolored portal opened in the air nearby. "What the heck?" said Matt before PlasMorph, wearing a dressing robe and fez, came flying out while driving a small bumper car. "Hey guys," said Morph, "Just popping in to check on how you guys are doing. What's going on right now?"

The group just stared. "Wha?" said Matt in a dazed voice. It was all he could manage given the circumstances.

"Uh, Morph, we're in a bit of a crisis now," said Chloe, indicating the surrounding grublins. "Oh, ok, I think me and my SMID buddies can help with that. Shriners, ho!" Out of the portal popped out GIR, Cosmo, and SpongeBob SquarePants, all driving the same kind of bumper cars and wearing the same dressing gown and fez.

Matt for once was absolutely speechless. "You know...one day...I'll find out how he gets around," he said faintly. The grublins were probably faring worse than Matt's sanity, judging from how worryingly accurate the bad driving was.

"You know, I know how bad SpongeBob was at boating school," said Chloe, "But I didn't think it'd that... Ooh, right over his chest."

Finally, Morph and his partners in automobile carnage vanished again, leaving a badly depleted grublin force. "Quick, while they're still counting all their limbs to make sure they're there," said Matt, spotting a dazed Shar-Virk getting back up and kicking him as he passed.

"I've never realized how lethal a bumper car could be," said Chloe. "Good things those guys just burst into gems, otherwise this place would be really messy," said Spyro. "Right, let's go," said Matt. As they were leaving, Matt could have sworn he heard Morph's voice cry "Dare to be stupid!"

--

Most of the colonists had gone through when they arrived in the arch square, just leaving a few Shar-Khan and the gang. "Ok...shall we go before Taleth gets ideas, like how the city would look better with a lovely anti-matter glow?" said Matt.

"I agree," said Chip, "We just need to go through that portal and everything will be back to the way it was before." "Wait," said Kala, "Then that will mean..." "Yes, I know," said Matt, "I'm not that enthusiastic about it either."

Contrinus glared angrily at Matt. "You knew?" she shrieked. Matt simply replied. "And you didn't? You think that it would all reset except the bit you didn't want too?" he said in an annoyed voice.

"We're not going!" snapped Contrinus as she grabbed Draco's arm, "I am not losing Draco again."

"Ok...hope you plan for a 40 second future. This place is toast or did you miss that part?" said Matt angrily.

"Not to mention that even if you did survive, which statistically impossible, you'd be stuck in human form forever?" said Chip. "And your presence here could disrupt the timestream as much as Spyro's did," said Cynder. Draco looked at Contrinus. "We have to go. We don't have a choice."

"But, I don't want to lose you," said Contrinus. "You won't lose me for long," said Draco, taking Contrinus hands in his own, "I will return to you one day, I promise."

"Can we please go before we find out what the middle of a mushroom cloud looks like?" said Matt urgently.

--

Seleni pushed her way onto the bridge of Taleth's ship. "Those...HATCHLINGS! Show me up, will they?" she said, walking over to a fire control console, pushing the technician at the station aside.

"Hey, wait a minute!" said the technician as Seleni started to activate the weapons system, "We've got orders to bring the purple hatchling back alive."

Seleni grabbed the back of the technicians head and slammed him into the console a few times. "Anyone else countermanding me?" she said, getting nothing but silence. She pressed the launch button, firing as anti-matter javelin at Avalon. "Hehehe...nobody shows me up," she said, giggling insanely.

--

Just as the gang was about to enter the portal, they heard the base's computer sound off, "Warning, javelin missile approaching city, evacuate immediately."

Matt looked at Contrinus and Draco and knew he'd hate himself. He pushed them through the portal and looked to see a single needle-like object headed for the portal. He turned to look at the arch and noticed something on it...a mark he'd seen before...in New York museum. "Oh heeeellll," he said and dived through.

The others dived through just in time before the missile struck the ground not too far from the portal.

The whole city vanished in a dome of superheated anti-matter that ignited the second the warhead casing cracked. Luckily the gang were not concentrating on this, rolling to a heap on the other side of the portal. It all seemed back to normal.

"Ugh, I'm glad that's all over with," said Chloe, "Time travel is so confusing." Matt got up unsteadily and he and Wilson took aim at Draco and Kala. "Ok...hands up," he said. "Matt, I'm hurt," said Draco, "Don't you trust me at all?" "Considering who's currently at the helm now, not at all," said Matt. "You know, I think there's this old saying," said Draco, "'You can only be trusted by how much you trust others'." Suddenly, he fired his laser vision of the heads of the nearby colonists.

This caused pure pandemonium. The colonists, both dragon and human had only just gotten over one warzone and now they'd been shot at again. Matt pushed a few aside, homing on Draco.

Suddenly, 'Kala' tackled him and pinned him down. "I might have used this opportunity to fool around with your head some," she said with Avarona's voice, "Oh well, business first." One of her hands morphed into a deadly dragon's paw and prepared to rip Matt open.

Matt tried to reach for his gun or ignite a plasma orb, but Avarona had a good grip on him. There was a whistling noise suddenly and an explosion knocked her and Matt flying. The NSS Warlock was slowly emerging over the horizon, small clouds of smoke emerging from the autogun that had fired. At the same time, Morgan and two of his Shar-khan had managed to get close. Avarona and Shard got up unsteadily. "Like it will stop us." she said.

"Please tell me that ship's on our side," said Morgan. "Actually, it is," said Matt, "Not sure what it's doing here though."

"You guys are so going to get your exorcised butts kicked back to hell," said Matt as he pointed his gun at them. Shard laughed and said, "Like you have the guts to fire it." "I will free your hosts," said Matt. "Like that'll happen," said Avarona, "Take a good look at this face, cause you're never seeing Kala again." With that, the two of them changed into their dragon forms. Matt started firing stunner rounds as they flew off, Avarona laughing coldly.

--

Apparently Stephen had been sent by Neilsson when a huge temporal charge had been detected. He was quite shocked to see about 6000 dragons and humans, not to mention 1000 soldiers.

The two of them quickly got down there and found Matt. "What's going on Lynch?" said Neilsson, "We get a distress call from you and when we show up, you have a whole town of soldiers and dragons with you." "City, actually," said Matt.

Neilsson sighed. "We're already in trouble with the elders for overcrowding. Who's this rent-a-cop?" he said, looking at Morgan.

Morgan looked at Neilsson. "I am Shar-Khan Morgan. At your service," he said, bowing. "Shar-Khan? What? How?" Neilsson looked completely dumbfounded. "It's a long story," said Chloe.

Neilsson looked ill. "There's more of you...it's just not fair," he said, gloomily. "Better get used to it," said Stephen, "Because these guys are going to need a lot of living space. Chloe looked at Matt. "So...what made you so annoyed about the arch?" Matt sighed. "You will not believe me if I said."

**Earth A-001**

**March 21, 2001**

An archeologist team was busy digging up a new ruins site in Scotland. The dig has already shown many promising finds.

The most interesting were the ruins of some advanced city, or at least the basements of them. The main find however had been a strange arch found buried under a layer of granite. "Is it...intact?" said the dig leader.

"It appears so, Dr. Noir," said one of the diggers, "It seems to be made of a metal of some kind. But they couldn't have been able to forge medals back when these ruins were intact, could they?"

Dr. Noir looked at the arch. "We don't know anything about who lived here. Make sure it is packed perfectly. It will be perfect for the Atlantis exhibit in New York."

**Spyro's rescued but Kala and Draco are lost again and we've also seen the very portal that originally brought Matt and Chloe to Nullspace. Tune in next time and leave a review.**


	15. Win Some, Lose Some

**Spyro, Cynder, and all other Spyro related characters are property of Sierra studios. **

**Draco, Contrinus, Chip and Cydra are property of my co-author, Cydra. **

**Matt, his merc team, the NSC and related tech, the ancients/atlanteans and malefors dragon generals are mine.**

**CPS Chronicles: Forgotten Blood**

**Chapter 15: Win Some, Lose Some**

Elder Zara had been on frazzled nerves lately. Fortunately, with the humans gone, there won't be a chance for anymore mishaps. The other Dragon Elders were busy with the new colonists. "Perhaps now I'll be able to get some work done," she said to herself as she went into the library.

She stopped when she saw a small hillock of books in the middle of the room. Matt, in dragon form could be seen reading a book at the bottom of it. "Elder," he said in a bored voice.

"What are you doing with all these books?" demanded Zara. "Looking for a spell, an exorcism spell. I have plans," said Matt darkly. Zara looked at him. "What plans?" "It's a secret," said Matt in a sing-song voice

"You do know I think you're insane, right?" said Zara. "Eh, pretty much everybody does," said Matt.

Suddenly, his claw slipped and knocked against a book. "Woops," he said as the pile started to wobble. "Timber!" he cried as the entire stack fell down and buried Zara.

Matt landed and turned human. His common sense and his sense of survival all supplied a good reason to slip away. Top of the list was being roasted alive. Matt turned and began to stroll away when Zara roared, "DON'T YOU DARE!"

"Uh, you wouldn't try to fry me here," said Matt, "You could burn the books." Zara glared. "You tell me why you're looking for an exorcism spell..." she said. Matt started to say "But it's a se..." and was blown over as Zara yelled "...NOW!"

"Ok, ok," said Matt, "I was hoping to use it to send Malefors henchdrakes back to where they came from. As well as freeing their poor hosts." "Oh please. How do you know it'll work?" said Zara.

"Because it worked on me," said Cynder, as she came out from behind a bookshelf with a few books on her back. Zara turned to Cynder and back at Matt. "Show me your whole plan tomorrow...too tired to deal with your human idiocy."

--

The next morning, Matt had assembled everyone in the council chamber. "I hope this is worth interrupting my sleep," muttered NegaMorph as he rubbed his many eyes.

Zara was half asleep and with a black eye caused by one of the ballistic books the night before. "Look, get on with it." Matt said, "It's a simple ambush. They used a fake signal to bring me, Spyro n Cynder into a trap. We pull it in reverse, use a fake chakra device signal, and ambush em, zap em with the spell and we're up 2 allies and they're down two generals." "Sounds too risky," said Zara, "Suppose we lose our allies?"

"For heaven's sake. I'm a professional. I'm more likely to be hit by a falling pie," said Matt in a talking-to-idiots voice.

"Yes, a professional clown," muttered Zara. "I heard that..." said Matt angrily. Chloe looked at Zara. "For heaven's sake. I'll be there too. It's going to work." she said.

"Speaking of a plan and carrying it out are two different things," said Zara as she turned to leave.

"Is that a no, then?" said Matt.

"It's a fool's plan, approving it would only make me a bigger fool," said Zara before walking out.

Matt and Spyro looked at each other. "I've heard enough.

--

Spyro and Cynder wandered up to the ship to see the gang checking stun charges and pulse rifle energy packs. "Ready to go?" asked Matt. "As if you need to ask," said Chloe, hoisting up the beacon generator.

--

Shard and Avarona were sat outside Malefors quarters. The unspoken agreement was that Malefors body was deteriorating fast and in their opinion, his brain was not far behind. Apparently Anton had a plan to solve this, being given to Malefor at that moment.

"I don't see why we have to stick around here," said Shard. "Because if we don't do something, Malefor will be useless as a commander," said Avarona, "If we are to preserve his leadership, we'll have to capture Spyro. Unless you can think of an alternate host."

"I don't know, why not just grab any old dragon?" said Shard. Avarona said darkly, "Because we might grab that merc by accident."

"I don't think we'd grab him by accident," said Shard, "He stands out from the crowd a lot."

"He can turn into a dragon...and he can be suspiciously sane sometimes," said Avarona, digging through Kala's memories.

"So we avoid grabbing any dark blue dragons," said Shard, "Plenty of other dragons to pick from. Why settle for Spyro?" Suddenly, the door opened and Malefor stepped out, "Because he is the only one with the same powers as me," he said.

Avarona and Shard jumped up to attention. "Master. What is this plan that the Shar-Virk has?" said Shard

"It's quite simple actually," said Malefor, "With the Staff of Leaping finally repaired, we can transfer my soul into Spyro's body."

"But if I remember, they have a battlecruiser," said Avarona. "Which is why we're going to ambush him when he's as close to his buddies," said Anton. "And how will we do that, hybrid?" said Avarona, lowering her head to glare at Anton.

"Simple, you lure them out," said Anton smirking. Avarona and Shard both said "NOT A HOPE IN CONVEXITY!" Malefor growled, "You will do as he says and you will get me Spyro. IS THAT CLEAR?!" The last part was shouted with such force, one of his eyeballs popped out of his socket and was left dangling on a vein.

The others all looked at it and shot for the door so fast they left after images. Then again, could you blame them?

--

Chip and Techo were putting the finishing touches on the beacon, Matt was getting the men they'd dragooned into the plan into their places while Chloe was telling Spyro and Cynder their roles. "Ok, once Avarona and Shard arrive, you two keep them distracted long enough for me to hit them with the exorcism spell," said Matt, "Make sure they don't go too far away."

"Shouldn't be too hard to do." said Spyro. Chloe nodded. "Plus there'll be about 30 armed marines ready to cause problems if the generals bring friends." "You certain they'll take the bait?" asked Cynder. "Well, we hooked up a fake signal for a chakra device. No way they'll miss out." said Matt, walking up.

--

Up in the sky, Avarona and Shard were homing in on the signal they were getting. "I would have thought the last Chakra device would be in a more obscure and secretive place," said Shard.

"It can't be...no, there's no way that we could be ambushing each other," said Avarona after a minute's thought. "Better home in and grab the little trinket," said Shard and they started to circle down.

"I don't believe it. Double jackpot," said Shard, looking down and seeing Spyro and Cynder standing in the clearing. "Tuatara...you'd better be ready," she said Avarona.

--

"I don't believe it. Double jackpot," said Matt, looking up to see Shard and Avarona coming down, "NegaMorph, you better get ready," said Chloe. NegaMorph said "Wait...this is too easy." Matt grabbed him. "Look, nobody ambushes each other, it's impossible."

--

"This falling together too easily," said Tuatara. "Don't be ridiculous," said Shard, "Nobody ambushes each other. It's impossible."

--

As soon as Avarona and Shard landed, Matt and his men jumped up. "Freeze, you little...ARGH!" said a marine before a laser blast shot him as Tuatara and his droids jumped up. NegaMorph jumped out and piledrived Tuatara. "Got you, you stinking bodysnatching, cybernetic..." NegaMorph trailed off when he realized what his last adjective had been. "Um, there appears to be a mix-up," he said.

Tuatara snarled and fired both his wrist cannons into NegaMorph before jumping up. It was a scene of utter chaos as both would be ambushers settled for the tried and tested shooting at each other method. Avarona and Shard were against Spyro and Cynder.

"You're coming with us!" shouted Spyro and Shard at the same time. "No, no, we're doing the kidnapping today," said Avarona, "You'll be the kidnapee." "I don't think so," said Cynder.

Matt was looking at the note that had the spell on. "Ok...ready..." he said and started talking in draconic, the familiar glowing white orb appearing."Ok...let's see who gets the eviction notice," he said and threw it at the two generals.

"Heads up!" shouted Avarona. Both dragon generals ducked and the orb went over its head. The orb bounced of a tree, and another tree, and kept going like a crazy pinball.

Even Tuatara watched its progress till it headed on a beeline for Shard. "Oh crap," said Shard just before it hit him.

Matt punched the air. "Yes! Tilt!" he said and readied a second orb when two blasts landed at his feet.

"Time to die, pack-traitor," said Tuatara, panels opening to reveal missile launchers. "And it's time you got that overdue trip to the dentist," said NegaMorph as he pried Tuatara's mouth open with a large pair of pliers.

Matt nodded and ignited his hand with plasma and shoved it in Tuatara's throat. "It's extra spicy, loser," he said, kicking Tuatara back, who was scrabbling at his mouth. However, the plasma orb went boom while in his stomach. But it didn't blow him to pieces, which was probably not preferable to those who were squeamish.

Matt and NegaMorph got ready to fight as Tuatara lunged back into the fight, grabbing them both and slamming their heads together with a 'clonk'. "I have no time for you," he snarled, before turning to where Avarona was backing up from Spyro and Cynder.

It took only one glancing blow to the head for Tuatara to knock Cynder out. He easily grabbed Spyro in his mechanical claws. Matt jumped up and tossed a plasma ball into Tuatara's back. "Hands off, ugly," he said, drawing his ion blade.

Tuatara glared at him. "You should be out cold," he said. "NegaMorph's a living glob of gel, remember?" said Matt, "If you really wanted me down for the count, you should have used my sister."

Matt aimed a slash at Tuatara who ducked before hitting him with the thing he was holding, which was Spyro. "Shame...but a dragon works just as well," he said, smirking.

"Yep, that'd work," said Matt in a dazed voice before falling over, a lump the size of a lime on his head. A hail of bullets bounced around him and Avarona. She kicked Shard. "Hey...wake up. We're going."

Shard opened his eyes and started hacking. Then something dark came out of his mouth and went into the ground. Moments later, Shard's body had reverted back to Draco's. "Sorry," said Draco, "But I'm not on your team anymore."

Avarona glared and sharpened her claws with ice. "Then we don't need...OOF!" she said as a grenade blast ruined her plan.

She turned to Tuatara and said, "We're leaving now!" Tuatara activated a teleport beacon and before anyone could get close, they shimmered into nothingness, along with their captives.

Just then, Matt got up and said, "Ow, that hurt. Did we win?" "Well, yes and no," said Chloe.

Matt looked around and noticed two important absences. "Oh crap...can this get any worse?" His comm beeped and one of his crew who had stayed behind said, "Sir? Zara wants to see you. I think we're busted."

--

The arrival back at the city was somewhat dreaded. But it did lighten the mood when Contrinus spotted Draco and promptly glomped him.

Draco smiled and returned the hug as Matt and Chloe walked gloomily towards the elder chamber like the convicted on death row. The reason was clear. Zara had a look Neilsson would have been so proud of.

"So," said Zara in a deceptively calm voice, "You went against my direct orders and did your foolish plan anyways. And what were the results?"

"We K.O'ed Draco, all done, let's go. Places to go, people to shoot," said Matt, desperately and turned to leave.

"And where is Spyro and Cynder?" demanded Zara. "Erm...very.......tired. They're...asleep?" said Matt with a nervous grin. "They got captured, didn't they?" said Zara. "Uh, afraid so," said Chloe.

Zara's face set in concrete. "Ok...so let me get this straight. You not only disobeyed me...BUT YOU LET THE DRAGON OF DESTINY BE CAPTURED?" she roared.

"Well, Shard's gone for good and Draco's back," said Matt meekly, "Yay for our side?" Zara lowered her head to glare, nose to nose with Matt. "Do I look amused, hybrid?" she hissed.

"Not in the slightest bit," squeaked Matt. "Right...I will handle this...YOU will go out of my sight," snarled Zara.

"Hey, we can rescue Spyro and Cynder before," said Matt, "We can do it again." "No thank you," said Zara coldly, "Your actions have shown how incompetent you are. I do not require you bungling things worse than they are now."

Matt glared, his eyes glowing red. "I beg your pardon?" he said. "This situation shall be handled by the Dragon Council," said Zara, "You will not be involved in this rescue. You have caused enough damage already. Now get out."

"I'm sorry...did you buy our contract at some point?" said Matt but was dragged out by Chloe who hissed, "Not now..."

--

"What do you mean you won't help us?" said Matt. "It is mandatory that we remain on good terms with the dragons, as long as we're stuck here," said Neilsson, "I don't think it would be wise to anger them any further. Besides, Zara has a point. Your rescue missions often end with more captives than before."

"Name one...except for the last one," said Matt. Neilsson said smugly, "Banshee base." "Ok, name one that didn't take place on this planet," said Matt. "The Exo-gene operation...and the cleanup operation as well," said Neilsson smugly.

Matt's face started to get progressively red. "Face it, Lynch," said Neilsson, "You can't even get captives properly, as your record with that Cybertronian battle show."

"That was cleared so...urgh...you're not worth it...just try and stop us," he said. "Oh, sure go against my command," said Neilsson, "The exact same way you went against Zara's." Matt grabbed Neilsson by the collar. "What happened to the NSC's motto to not tolerate evil? Malefor makes the empire look like schoolyard bullies," he said before pushing him back and walking out with a glaring Chloe following.

Stephen half-expected Neilsson to order that Matt's crew would not be permitted assistance, but instead, Neilsson had a rather thoughtful look on his face.

Morgan watched as Matt had some more guns checked. "This is dangerous. Walking into the dragon's den like this...you will need help." Matt shook his head, "Thanks but we have more hope of getting in then a small army...anyway, Warfang'll need you."

"I suppose so," said Morgan. Fortunately for him, Matt didn't know him so well. Otherwise, he'd have been suspicious the way Morgan's right eyebrow twitched.

--

The Nighthawk lifted off, Matt watched as it disappeared into the ash cloud. "Ok, we walk," he said. Everyone on the team had come: Wilson, Techo, Chip, Draco, Contrinus, Chloe, and even NegaMorph, who apparently knew a back way in. Draco looked naturally nervous.

"Uh, guys, I'm not certain about this," said Draco. "What's this?" said Chip mockingly, "The great 6-2-8 shying from battle?" "It's not that," said Draco, "It's just that I have zero experience with these guys."

"Just droids, Anton and Tuatara. For everyone else, ice em." said Techo, cheerfully. Matt walked up to Negamorph. "Hey...you sure about this back door?" He said.

"I've seen the blueprints for this place," said NegaMorph, "I highly doubt they've made any big changes in the plans."

"Ok...so where is it?" said Wilson, in an annoyed voice. The heat from the nearby lava river seemed to have only helped Draco's mood.

"Ok, ok, give me a minute," said NegaMorph as he scanned the various rocks. "Ah ha!" He slid one portion of a rock down and a door opened. "Open sesame," he said.

The tunnel beyond had obviously not seen much maintenance, shown by the few flickering light strips. A faint light could be seen at the end of the tunnel. "You hear Neilsson's excuse for not sending troops? Apparently, the defense grid's being set to filter power to an orbital base. Some kind of relay for the droids." said Techo.

"But they don't have nearly enough droids for that," said Chloe. Matt walked out the end of the tunnel and stopped. "I think they have more than we thought," he said, in a distant voice. The tunnel had opened onto a walkway above a huge warehouse filled to capacity with battle droids and AAT tanks.

Techo looked down and whistled. "These things look fresh off the assembly line," he said. The walkway led the way over the droids and into a second warehouse-sized room. This one was linked into a molten lake and had several huge production lines constructing droids, weapons, tanks and even one making T-3's.

The group continued over the walkway. Chip brought up the rear. He leaned over to look at the droids assembly line. "Interesting," said Chip, "I wonder if I could get a better look." Suddenly, he slipped on a puddle of water on the walkway and lost his balance. Before he knew it, he had tumbled over and landed on the conveyor belt below.

Matt looked past at the yelp and shrugged, not seeing anything. "Ok...which way's the brig?" said Chloe.

"Uh, let's see," said NegaMorph, "It should be around here somewhere. As I recalled, you have to take a right after the droids factory."

"Ok...seems simple enough...ok, what's the catch?" said Matt.

NegaMorph tapped his chin thoughtfully and said, "I think there are some invisible lasers here."

"Where? GFRDJGFRJ!!!" said Matt as he suddenly shuddered and fell backwards. Chloe said, "I think he found them."

"Ok, I know what to do here," said Draco. He breathed out icy mist that floated down the hallway. Under the cool air, the lasers became visible.

Chloe grabbed Matt and dragged him along the floor. "How long will the laser affect him?" she asked.

"It's just a stunner," said NegaMorph, "He'll be fine in three minutes. There's a shut off switch on the other side of the hallway."

Techo found the switch and pulled it. A second hatch could be seen with two shadows visible in the hatch's window.

--

Meanwhile, Spyro and Cynder were pacing around in their cell. "I can't believe I let myself be captured again," said Spyro. "Don't be so hard on yourself," said Cynder, "I got captured too."

The two guards were part of Anton's crew. "Heh, look on the bright side. Least you get to go together tomorrow," said one of the guards. The two knew exactly what was in store for the dragons. They didn't notice a seamless piece of metal moving aside to let several figures in. "Hey, who are you- Ow! Oh!" There were two thumps as the guards toppled over.

The lead figure walked into the light. "Good news. You made bail," said Matt, blowing the lock off. "I'm glad you guys turned up," said Cynder, "I'd hate to see what they had planned for us."

Chloe nodded. "Yeah. Bet it isn't good." There were footsteps behind NegaMorph and another of Anton's men came into view. "Drop it, traitor," he said and was blasted over the walkway bar with a scream. "Time to go." said Matt and opened the main door to come face to face with a super battle droid. "Sorry, wrong address," he said and slammed the door.

The door was quickly thrown off its hinges and the droid grabbed NegaMorph's head and squished it in its hand.

It was blasted back by fire from everyone else, only to be replaced by four more that came in and Tuatara and Anton. "Glad you made it, Lynch," said Anton, "I was worried you'd gotten lost in the tunnels."

"What? How did you know we were here?" asked Matt.

"C'mon...haven't you heard of security cameras?" said Anton. "Oh, security cameras, right," said Matt. He hissed at NegaMorph, "Why didn't you tell us there were cameras?" "I didn't want to state the obvious," said NegaMorph.

Anton carried on. "Now then, I'm actually glad you're here. Now you can join your two dragon friends tomorrow in the arena. Of course, you can take it up with my associate," he said, pointing to Tuatara.

"Arena? What arena?" said NegaMorph.

"Well, you came underground. We did a little redecorating...and chakra devices work better with high adrenaline in the subject," said Anton.

Matt reached for his blaster and was knocked into the wall by Tuatara's blaster. "Ah, ah...that not being a good guest...but we have some nice warm cells." said Anton, putting a hand in front of Tuatara to prevent the mutant finishing Matt off. The droids all aimed to emphasize the point.

--

Later that night, Chloe and Matt were holed up inside a cell. Chloe had stuffed her sock in Matt's mouth a few hours ago when Matt was singing.

Anton was obviously not taking chances, as the lynches had a special set of cells that had apparently been reinforced bunkers in a previous existence. Matt pulled the sock out and sighed. "Nice to see they're learning a bit." he said and wilted under Chloe's glare. She was just about to thump Matt when the cell door opened and Anton and 4 of his men came in.

"You aren't taking me without a fight," said Matt, "Or at least a splitting headache." "Droids. Shut down code: Alpha 112-A-2." said Anton, making the droids outside the cells shut down. "Get moving. That won't keep em down for long."

Chloe looked confused. "Wait a second," she said, "Aren't you supposed to be our enemy?" "Taleth still wants to recruit you, don't ask me why." said Anton, sighing. One of his men said "A shuttles in a bay 40 meters from this cell. An S&R ship will be waiting and the shuttle is set to be cleared with the defense grid." Matt glared. "You want us to leave our buds in the lurch?"

"What do they matter to you?" said Anton, "They're just dragons. Several of them are just lab experiments. You'd be better off with the superior breed."

"Drop dead." said Chloe. Anton sighed and said "For god's sake. Use your brains. Spyro and this whole world are going down the pan. Hell, I'm just waiting for a chance to get outta here." Matt and Chloe glared and turned dragon, sitting down and glaring. Anton threw his hand sup. "Fine...enjoy your last night breathing." and stormed out.

The cells shut behind them and one of Anton's men said, "Sir, shall we turn off the shuttle now?"

"No...Send it anyway...if an empty shuttle turned up, the NSC'll send a fleet to arrest whoever sent it." said Anton, waving in a dismissive way.

"How can you be so sure it will be the NSC who will intercept that shuttle?" asked the soldier.

"Who cares?" said Anton in a bored voice.

--

The next morning, the cell opened to reveal Tuatara and four droids. "Please try to escape." hissed the mutant.

"Oh good, you're here," said Matt, "I'll have the bacon and eggs dish, no coffee please."

Tuatara snarled and brought his fist down on Matt's head. "Is that a no?" rasped Matt.

"Hey! I want breakfast too!" said Chloe, "You can't expect us to put a good show in the arena on an empty stomach."

Tuatara snarled louder. "Follow us or I rip your legs off and DRAG YOU!" he said. Matt and Chloe exchanged a smirk. Sometimes it was too easy to antagonize an enemy.

NegaMorph refused to move so he was being dragged by his tail. "I refuse to wear any dopey gladiator gear," he said.

"Could be worse," said Techo. Matt grinned. "Can't be worse than Captain Skabb's arena, right, Spyro?" he said.

"I don't know," said Spyro, "I have no idea what kind of monsters they have here." Matt said. "Probably just grublins and bots...hay...has anyone seen Chip?" "No," said Draco, "He wasn't in the cell with us."

"Ah, on a base full of virus-vulnerable bots...he'll be fine." said Matt. Chloe nodded "Yeah...it's not like he fell in the production line." The tunnel opened into a huge arena with high walls and an open ceiling.

"It should be easy to fly out of here," said Contrinus, stretching her wings. "Uh, I wouldn't count on that," said Wilson, pointing at the AA cannons that were focused on them.

Malefor and his three remaining generals could be seen watching and a mix of droids and grublins were watching. Malefors look had definitely deteriorated since Matt had last seen him.

"I thought I smelled something rotten here," said Matt, waving the air in front of his face, "Ugh, hasn't he ever heard of formaldehyde?"

Chloe looked at him. "Is he missing an eye?" she said. "Let's have some fun now, shall we?" said Malefor as doors started to open in the arena. NegaMorph looked up at Malefor and said, "If we are about to die, screw you."

Malefor sneered at Negamorph and spat a convexity ball at him. Raptor laughed "I believe you know your first opponents."

The gang looked to see what looked like trolls made of wood and moss coming out of the doors.

The group backed up as the tree golems looked around before one with a huge scorch mark looked around till it saw Matt. "Malefor really went far and wide for these things." said Spyro. Matt gulped. "And he brought an old friend." he said as the scorched one focused on Matt and its eyes glowed in recognition.

The scorched golem roared at Matt and started charging him. Matt, quite sensibly, turned the other direction and ran.

Techo and Wilson were the ones in the worst danger however, given that unlike the others, they had no natural weaponry.

"Oh come on," said Wilson as he avoided one golem's fist, "Don't we get a sword or a trident or something?"

"Bloody universe." swore Techo, avoiding a stomp from another golem and running between the legs of the offending monster. "Oh, gimmie that." he said, grabbing Wilsons wrist computer.

Techo punched the buttons on the wrist comp and said, "Come on, come on." With a click, a small tube extended from the device and a small plasma-based flame spurted out. It wasn't much, like for lighting a cigarette or starting a campfire. "It'll have to do," said Techo and he torched some of the leaves growing on the golem's leg.

The golem seemed not to notice until it seemed to smell the burning. Its expression seemed to say 'Ah crap' before the flame flash-fried it. Matt, however was not having a good time. His own golem was attempting with minor success to transform the poor merc into a greasy smear.

"Look, I know you didn't like that grenade of mine," said Matt, "But that was a long time ago. Can't we just forgive and forget?"

The golems answer was to pound Matt on the head so far he sank up to his knees in the sand, despite the fact the sand was only meant to go up to Matt's ankles.

"Oooooh...pretty stars..." gibbered Matt. "These walking stumps shouldn't be too hard," said NegaMorph. He morphed into Deforestator and said, "Eat my sawdust!" The golem retaliated by stamping on Negamorph.

The golem was about to finish off Matt when it heard a sound like a large buzz saw. It looked down to see a black blur shredding up its leg. Matt closed his eyes as a stream of sawdust hit his face. When he looked again, NegaMorph was holding the strings of a recently-made marionette. "Oh, if only you were a real boy," said NegaMorph.

Malefor watched angrily as a third golem was taken down by Cynder and Spyro. "Why is it not WORKING?" he said angrily.

"Well, the tree golems aren't exactly our most powerful monsters," said Raptor. "Then send tougher monsters!" ordered Malefor.

Chloe had just helped Matt out his hole when the gate opened again and the group shook. "Ok...now what?" said Techo and a huge creature easily bigger than the tree golems walked out. It was made from the same stuff as the grublins. It looked down at them and opened its mouth to spit a fireball at the group.

"Duck and cover!" called Wilson and the group scattered before the fireball hit the ground.

The fireball bounced along the ground and hit the far wall, causing several cracks to appear in it. "Spyro...you thinking along the same lines at me?" said Matt with a smirk.

Chloe glared at them. "What the hell are you planning?" Matt smirked. "Bowling for idiots." he said.

Cynder grabbed Spyro's tail and flew up into the air. Spyro surrounded himself with earth energy as Cynder swung him back and forth. With one last swing, Cynder threw Spyro into the cracked wall.

Malefor tensed up at this. "WHAT? NO...STOP THEM!" he roared. Anton sighed and pressed a button.

--

"Alright, enough of this circus, let's get out of here," said Draco. The group ran straight for the hole in the wall, only for them to hear the sound of metallic feet marching and see red optics shining in the dark.

Two droideka's walked out of the shadows in battle mode. At the same time two droideka's rolled out another gate and deployed to surround them. "Uh oh." said Matt. Malefor laughed. "You really thought you could escape so easily?"

The group glared up at Malefor and his generals. Malefor gave a nasty grin, which was even nastier because his gums were rotting. "None of you are leaving here alive. Except for Spyro, of course. No use in moving from one dead body to another dead body."

"Like hell." yelled Matt. Malefor didn't hear footsteps behind him. A figure walked out the shadows and pulled out a blade that crackled with energy, holding it to Malefors throat. "Good evening." said the figure, pulling down its hood to reveal Morgan. "I'm afraid this shows over." At those words, more people mixed in the crowd drew ion blades or turned to dragon form, nearly 150 in all.

"Ah, the lost Shar-Khan," said Malefor, "I had thought that you were destroyed during the assault on your colony, but Avarona had informed me otherwise. Fortunately, I've come prepared for such an event as this."

"Your grublins haven't a hope against us. That was proved during your first attempt." said Morgan. Anton smirked and pressed a button and a faint clunking was heard from the tunnel behind them. "Who said anything about grublins?" he said. Morgan turned to see two shapes walking towards them.

"What the?" he said and raised his blade to block a hail of laser bolts from the two Super Battle Droids, and was forced to vault into the arena when Malefor sent a blast of flame at him.

Matt looked up as Morgan fell down near him. "Well, this is a bit of a mixed blessing," said Matt, "I'm glad to see you here, but I'd prefer if your plan had worked."

Matt managed to fight his way over to Morgan. "What the hell are you doing here?" he said, decapitating a battle droid with a slash.

"I thought you could use backup," said Morgan, "Turns out I was right." "Well...it seems that I'm not the only one who ignores authority." said Matt with a laugh. The rest of the shar-khan were also jumping down to aid their leader. This was just in time as all the gates opened and hundreds of droids ran out, shooting as they went.

"Ah, great, factory fresh," muttered Chloe as she threw a lightning bolt at them. The shar-khan didn't have much fear, running at the droids, blades out and laying into them with blade, claw and breath blasts. Two tossed a blade to both Matt and Chloe who activated them. "MAYHEM TIME!" yelled Matt and jumped on the closest Super battle droids back. If anyone had been paying attention they might have noticed two out of place battle droids...

One of the droids had a head that was mainly made of a single digital eye, which was complaining loudly, "Hey! What's going on here? I can't control my body!" Another droid had a normal head, but a much shorter body. It held three guns in its six hands, but wasn't moving very fast. "There's something wrong with my legs," it beeped.

A new type of droid, consisting of a strange cannon on a six-legged body aimed a cannon that let out a sonic blast that knocked two shar-khan into the air and deposited them in motionless heaps...an automated sonic cannon.

"Ok, we need to take out that sound blaster," said Techo, "It'll blow our side to bits." "Oh yeah...we'll ask the other bots to leave us alone so we can do...has that droid got chips head?" said Wilson.

"Guys! Help!" called the droid with Chip's head, "I got mixed up at the assembly line and I can't control this body!" The two mercs watched with interest as Chip marched off. "Ok...they using gas? No way I saw that." said Wilson.

"Right, let's try and take care of that sonic cannon," said Techo.

--

The droid with Chips body was busy trying to blast a shar-khan. The droid finally lucked out when a bolt was re-directed to hit where its head was joined, knocking it off.

Chip's body staggered about for a bit, momentarily at a lapse for direction. But then Chip's second brain activated and the screen on its stomach showed a digital eye on it. "I better get back my head," said Chip's body and he hurried off to do so.

Matt had ended up against two droids who were backing up while firing. Suddenly they looked at each other before running off. "Whats their problem?" said Matt before hearing the fire golem roar behind him. "I had to ask." he said, turning to see the monster.

Matt quickly fired a blast of plasma at the golem, but it just glanced off. "Oh man," he said, "What I wouldn't give for ice plasma right now."

Matt backed up as the golem got ready to smash him and Matt readied another plasma ball and threw it in desperation and was shocked when the hand he hit iced up. He aimed another plasma orb that caused the ice and the joint to smash.

"Huh, I didn't think there was such a thing as ice plasma," said Matt, "But that works for me."

The sonic cannon droid fired again, this time narrowly missing a Shar-khan. Spyro and Cynder were helping Chloe hold off droids while Techo tried to hack the AA guns and shut them down. "This is bad." said Chloe, sending a lightning bolt into a super battle droid who staggered before keeping firing.

Just then, a droid with Chip's head started firing on them. "Die, Shar-Khan dogs!" yelled Chip, "Oh, sorry, I can't control myself."

Chloe ducked the blast and was shocked to see what seemed like the other half of Chip jump the droid with Chips head. It was a surprisingly close fight. However the rest of the fight wasn't going as well. The Shar-khan were fighting well but the droids just kept coming and slowly the Shar-khan were falling.

"Boy, I wish I had an EMP grenade right now," said Chloe.

"I wish I had a battlecruiser." retorted Matt, shooting a battle droid that staggered before being swatted aside by a super battle droid who opened fire in full automatic. The droids had surrounded them and were easily outnumbering them by 100 to 1. Suddenly they stopped dead, standing to attention. "Ok...thats unexpected." said Matt to Spyro.

Malefor laughed. "Impressive fight...ultimately futile but impressive." he said. "For that, you all get to leave...with all your limbs...well...almost all of you."

"What's that supposed to mean?" demanded Chip, who had managed to put his head back on his rightful body. "You are all free to leave, without any further harm, as long as Spyro stays. However, if he refuses, then I'll have everyone that would stay beside him cut down."

Matt glared. "Gee, let me thing, erm...NAH!" he said and threw a plasma orb at Malefor. The plasma orb struck Malefor in the throat and caused pieces of decayed flesh to fly everywhere. Malefor would have roared with pain and anger, but no sound let his mouth.

Matt smiled evilly as Malefor obviously tried to say 'Kill them'. "I can see why every villain wants my voicebox removed. So peaceful."

"You shall pay for your insolence!" roared Raptor and shot a lightning bolt at Matt. Matt was fried and fell over. "Worth every third degree burn." he said. Avarona snarled. "Malefor demands their destruction." and the droids began to power up. "Oh great. Spyro, Cynder, it's been a pleasure to know you." said Chloe. Techo said. "Hey...anyone hear a whistling?"

Just then, the AA cannons were blown into a hundred pieces. "I think the cavalry's here," said Draco, pointing up. The droids all looked up to see several dropships and gunships lower into the arena and start firing.

--

Neilsson sat in the co-pilot seat of one of the dropships. "I want a clear perimeter round the survivors. Get some men down there."

"Yes, sir," said Stephen, "and if you'll mind me saying so, this is the most heroic thing I've ever seen you do."

"It's not that. I'm not letting that pain in the arise mercenary GET ONE UP ON ME...NOW GET YOUR MEN OUT THERE BEFORE I LOAD YOU IN A CANNON AND FIRE YOU AT THEM!!!" yelled Neilsson into his comm.

"Ah, that's more like the Neilsson I know," muttered Stephen.

--

The first dropships landed and a group of marines with EMP rifles jumped out and started firing. "I think that's our ride." said Matt, deflecting a plasma blast back to sender. "Well, I'm ready to go," said Chip, who had just shorted out a dozen droids.

Malefor made 'get them' motions to Anton who smirked. "I'm sorry. All you have to do is say." Malefor glared and made the same motions to his generals.

The three generals moved without hesitation and stared flying over the arena, bombarding the Shar-Khan with blasts of ice, lightning, and darkness.

The escorting gunships were more than happy to make trouble for the generals as the surviving Shar-khan and gang piled onto the dropships. Finally just Morgan, Matt, Spyro and Cynder were left.

"Make room!" called Matt, "VIDs coming through!"

The dropship escort marines were trying their best to hold their ground but the droids knew that at least one of the four remaining enemies was important.

Matt and Morgan both jumped into the dropship, which started to take off. Spyro and Cynder both started flying upwards when one of the droids shot Spyro in the wing.

Cynder turned to fly back but a hail of laser round not to mention the fact that Raptor was trying to fight his way over to kill her forced a retreat. This was nothing to what Matt was trying to do. "Sir, we can't go back. Its suicide." yelled a marine, holding him back from jumping back into the arena.

"There is no way I'm leaving Spyro back there!" shouted Matt, "We are not leaving him." "For ancients sake, see sense, sir." said the marine. "If we leave Spyro, Malefors going to move into him, nobody on our side wants that," pointed out Matt. "Sorry, sir. Neilsson's orders. We're here for you." said a second marine before stunning Matt.

--

Matt greatly dreaded returning to Warfang, particularly to the Council Chambers. It didn't help that he received a message right after he got into Warfang that he was supposed to go to the Council's Chambers.

Chloe said "Look...it wasn't your fault. I'll come with you." Matt shook his head said, "No. I'll handle this." Now he was dreading it and was hoping that the other eldars had returned in his absence. His hoping didn't work, except to only have Xavier there alongside an angry looking Zara.

"So, disobey orders again, have we?" said Zara, her rage barely restrained in her words, "And for what rewards were achieved this time?"

"We rescued Cynder." said Matt. Xavier was silently impressed. Back in his Shar-khan days, he couldn't have dodged a question from command with better skill.

Zara sighed and said, "I suppose that's one blessing. But I believe the consequences outweigh the benefits of your actions."

For a second Matt thought he'd gotten away with it before realizing he had about 2 seconds before Zara would catch onto it.

Actually he'd mentally counted up to 12 before Zara said "Wait...what about Spyro?" "Well, that was a bit of a problem," said Matt, twiddling his fingers, "I wanted to stop the dropship and go back for him, but Neilsson's flunkies were only there for me."

Xavier placed a paw over his eyes and another over his ears as Zara's eyes narrowed to near invisibility. "Are you telling me that Malefor has Spyro?"

"Well, unfortunately...yes..." said Matt and braced himself for the explosion. He wasn't disappointed. "WHAT?" roared Zara loud enough to rattle the windows. "Yeah, I know, I don't like that either," said Matt, "But if you could just let us try to rescue him..." "What? You practically handed him to Malefor and you want me to let you make it worse?" said Zara. Xavier looked at Matt to see his eyes glowing faintly red at Zara's words. "Eldar? Be careful in your words."

"In a way, I consider it amazing that you humans have caused such great damage to our society," said Zara, "Because in my experience, you're too incompetent to carry out the simplest of tasks."

Matt's eyes narrowed. "Yeah. We knew it was a trap. We knew they had a small army waiting to turn us into colanders...any other accusations?" he said.

"As a matter of fact, I do," said Zara, "Your blundering is so continuous and so profound that I wonder if it's as accidental as you claim it is."

Matt's eyes actually widened at that. "What?" he said in a deceptively calm voice. "You heard me," said Zara, "No one than an absolute klutz could make this many failures unless he was doing it on purpose."

Matt roared and threw a plasma orb that just missed Zara's head and blew a foot wide hole in the wall. Zara snarled and was about to lunge at Matt when a blast of ice landed between them.

"What is the meaning of this?" said Cyril as he walked in, "The Council's Chamber is supposed to be used for peaceful discussions, not as an arena."

"This fool is a traitor. He practically handed Spyro over to Malefor." said Zara, pointing at Matt. "...and he tried to kill me." Xavier said angrily "After you provoked him with pointless and unfounded accusations. I'm not surprised his other tried to kill you. I would have after what you said."

"I don't need to stand here and listen to this!" snapped Matt before storming off. Matt slammed the door open and nearly stepped on Cynder in passing. "Oh, sorry, Cynder," said Matt briefly before continuing his fowl-tempered marching. Cynder peered in. "What happened?"

Matt paused for a minute and said, "How long were you eavesdropping on us?" Cynder said "Half the city heard Zara." Matt glared "Well, I just got filed under 'evil traitor' by Eldar Zara. Of all the nerve." he said.

"Yeah, I know how that feels," said Cynder. Matt paused and recalled the several times where Cynder's loyalty was put into question, particularly by Sparx. "Oh, of course you would," said Matt.

Matt sat down on a low wall and said "I screwed up in a royally big way...didn't I?" "Matt, there was nothing you could have done at that time," said Cynder, "Just the fact that you've rescued me is nothing short of a miracle."

"But now Malefors back in business and has a small army of bots" said Matt, angrily. "This isn't just Sparx being a paranoid bug. This is big." Matt groaned and said, "Every time I come to this world, I just make everything worse. Maybe Zara's right. Maybe I am just a klutz."

Cynder shook her head sadly. "Thats not right. You've done good too." Matt said "Yeah? Name one thing."

"My grandparents." Matt jumped and turned to see Xyphros. "Ok, how long have you been listening in?" said Matt. Xyphros said "Heard Zara's yell." Matt sighed. "So what did you say about your grandparents?" He said. Xyphros said "They were colonists at your world...I thought they were dead...my parents told me they were...we all thought it and now thanks to you, they're back again."

"Oh, I see," said Matt, "How are they, by the way? I never got the opportunity to see them."

"Alive, well and confused. I was only an egg when they left for earth." said Xyphros.

Matt paused and tried to work that out in his head. "I forgot. How long do you dragons incubate?"

"A few years." said Xyphros in a matter-of-fact voice. "Thats not the point. You are not a klutz...most of the time and you definitely have done good here."

"Sure doesn't feel like it right now," said Matt. Xyphros said "You said there were three chakra devices, right?" "Yeah, Malefor has the Staff of Leaping, I smashed the Sword of Elimination," said Matt. "Then where and what's the third?" asked Xyphros. "I don't know, something like the Crown of Naming, or something like that," said Matt, "No idea where that thing is or what it does."

Cynder sighed "It was a fail-safe?" Matt and Xyphros stopped and looked at each other. "Well...thats helpful." Cynder listened as Matt started saying plan ideas to Xyphros. She sat down and looked up at the sky. "Please hold on, Spyro."

--

Meanwhile, Spyro was bound in place with strong chains. This gave him an unhealthy familiarity of when Devina hypnotized him, but he knew that what was planned for him was far worse. Anton was standing in the corner. "If its worth anything, I'm sorry." he said.

"Small consolation," muttered Spyro. "On the plus side, Malefor can't remove you with the sword of elimination in pieces...sadly only one thing can stop what Malefor has in mind and its out of reach." said Anton. He stood up as the generals came in.

"So where's Malefor?" said Spyro, "If he's going to take my body, he ought to at least do it in person."

The generals all laughed. "He's right here." said Avarona, letting a droid past. The droid was holding a purple gem in its hand.

Spyro stiffened and said, "So Malefors already discarded his corpse." "Yes..." said Devina. "...but he will soon be back to lead us shortly." said Raptor. The droid stepped forward and grabbed Spyro's front leg, pushing the gem into Spyro's grip.

Spyro winced in pain as a sickly purple glow came out of the gem and covered him. Anton sighed gloomily and walked out. The glow around spyro seemed to flow up until it all pooled in Spyro's eyes. "My lord?" said Devina.

When Spyro's eyes opened, they were no longer Spyro's. Malefors pale yellow eyes looked at his new surroundings. "Ah, this body fits so nicely," said Malefor, "It's as if I were young again."

The three generals bowed while behind them, Anton's eyes narrowed. "You got your work cut out, Lynch." he muttered before walking out.

**OH NU!!! Spyro's possessed by Malefor. This is definitely looking bad. It seems the gangs only hope is in the last Chakra device. Tune in next time and leave a review please.**


	16. Lunar Hope

**Spyro, Cynder, and all other Spyro related characters are property of Sierra studios. **

**Draco, Contrinus, Chip and Cydra are property of my co-author, Cydra. **

**Matt, his merc team, the NSC and related tech, the ancients/atlanteans and malefors dragon generals are mine.**

**CPS Chronicles: Forgotten Blood**

**Chapter 16: Lunar Hope**

Ever since Spyro had been left in the clutches of Malefor, and presumably been used as a new vessel for his soul, the gang have been putting all their effort into learning the location of the last chakra device, which may be able to save him.

Matt and company had read through the book for ages, reading through useless details until they reached the last page. "Ok...get ready for a terrible brain twisting riddle. They're bound to have saved the worst for last." said Matt. Chip and Draco turned the page and looked. "Ok...what is it?" said Matt.

"It says 'Look up'," said Chip. Matt stared. "Part of it's been erased, right?" "No, just the words 'Look up'," said Draco, "Nothing else." Matts eyes seemed to glaze over. "You're kidding...right...I know you two. Cynder...whats it say?" he said.

"Just that, 'Look up'," she said. "Heh," said NegaMorph, "The guy who came up with the good riddles must have been on vacation then."

Matt continued to stare straight ahead but now he'd started to giggle aimlessly. "Oh boy." said Techo and hit Matt across the back of the head.

As soon as Matt was safely 'napping', the others got to work trying to figure out what the 'riddle' meant.

"The only thing 'up' is well, everything. It could mean any place in this dimension." said Techo, rubbing a black eye. Matt had managed a retaliation before passing out.

Chip had his eye pointed out in telescope mode. "Well, it had to be something that was around several centuries ago. Something that'd be able to endure the passage of time." As he was moving his head around, Chloe passed through his field of vision. "Whoa, Chloe, you really need to wash your hair."

Chloe brought her fist down on chip without turning. "We need someone who was around then. Actually...we could probably ask anyone." she said.

"Well, let's started with the oldest person we can think of," said Contrinus, "Chronologically that is."

"Xavier." said Cynder. "He was definitely the oldest person in Avalon. Maybe he knows?"

"As good as any," said Wilson, "Where is he now, anyways?"

"He was in the council chambers the last time I saw him." said Techo. Draco didn't need to turn around to see Chloe's grimace. "Uh, I'll go," he said, "Besides, I was wanting to see more of this city."

Xavier was sitting in one of the squares when Drac found him. "Ah, young one...what brings you to seek out an old soldier like myself."

"Just an old riddle," said Draco, "I was hoping you could help us with it. It may lead to the third chakra device."

"Oh...the chakra devices weren't finished when you came." said Xavier, before going back to looking up.

"Well, the riddle to find it is 'Look up'," said Draco. "That's it?" asked Xavier. "Uh-huh." "Not very inventive of a riddle," said Xavier. "Yeah, Matt thought so too. That's why he's 'napping' right now," said Draco.

Draco looked up at the night sky. There were a lot stars out. And he did notice that there were two moons in the sky. "Hmm, which one seems newer to you?" asked Draco.

"The yellow one..." said Xavier, before sitting back down. "I hope it goes well for you....but I would advise not telling Zara."

"Good idea," said Draco, "I know she doesn't care that much for humans, I'd hate to find out how she feels about pseudo-dragons."

"I was sure she would have been on the council who were against us...the shar-khan I mean." said Xavier

"Uh huh," said Draco, "And I don't suppose she'd like small artificial aliens who impersonated dragons either."

"I don't know. It never came up." said Xavier

--

When Draco told the others, they were hardly surprised. "Well, the moon is as up as you can get," said Cynder.

"Not to mention all those lovely defence grid satellites with itchy electronic trigger fingers." said Matt.

"Oh, right," said Contrinus, "We'd be fried chicken if we tried to pass those."

One of the Marines walked in. "Captain Lynch. Neilsson wants to see you...and your little tin can friend too."

--

When Matt and Chip got to Neilsson, Chip automatically said, "I didn't hack any of your files. You can't point fingers at me."

"Its not that. The defense grid is acting up. Their targeting sensors are shutting down." said Neilsson, throwing a readout down.

"Are you serious?" asked Matt, "This isn't just to get false hope up, right?"

Chip looked at the readout. "Nope...its real." he said and lost a hand as Matt pulled it off him to look.

"I don't believe this," said Matt, "My good karma must be finally coming through."

"Actually the defense grid doubles as solar collectors for an orbital droid relay station. If they're reactivating it we could be in trouble." said Neilsson, throwing down a picture taken before Malefor had escaped, showing two NSC ships near a larger ship covered with cannons and comm relays.

Matt's grin promptly left his face. "Uh, I know your mind's busy right now," said Chip, "But can I have my hand back?"

Matt pulled off the hand and gave it back. "How long?" he said, grimly. Neilsson said "Not long enough...about 7 days..."

"Then we need to exorcise Spyro and Kala before then," said Matt. "What about the ones Devina and Raptor possessed?" asked Chip. Matt paused and said to Neilsson, "Do you know what their names were?"

"No...try your best with them...any clues to the last chakra devices?" said Neilsson.

"Uh, apparently the crown thing's on the artificial moon," said Matt.

"What artificial...oh no...Eldar Zara was quite insistent." said Neilsson

"Insistent about what?" asked Matt. "That you would have nothing to do with getting this chakra device," said Neilsson. "That's why we're not going to tell her about it," said Matt.

Chip said, "Isn't that how Spyro ended up in this mess?"

Matt glared at Chip and kicked his legs out from underneath him. "Oh, not again," said Chip as he struggled to get back up.

Matt looked at Neilsson. "This could be our only chance to save Spyro." he said.

Neilsson sighed and said, "It wouldn't really matter if I gave permission or not in this case."

Matt smiled. "Not a chance...just stall Commandant Zara. The other eldars will be ok with it." he said

Sometime later, Cyril noticed the gang getting a few supplies together. "Going somewhere, are we?" he asked.

"Erm...sightseeing. Cynder needs cheering up." said Matt, making 'play along' motions to Cynder.

"Yes, seeing more of the world should keep my mind off Spyro," said Cynder. Matt smiled nervously at Cyril before saying. "You're not buying it, are you."

"Xavier told me earlier," said Cyril, "So you need to go to the moon to find the Crown of Clensing, eh?"

"Yeah." said Matt, sagging in defeat. "Don't tell me. 'Not a chance'...eh?" he said.

"Actually, I was here to wish you good luck," said Cyril, "Spyro's rescuing takes precedence over all others."

"What about Zara? Won't she blow her top at the thought of captain bungler on the case?" said Matt

"We are keeping her... preoccupied with other concerns at the moment," said Cyril, "But I suggest you retrieve the Crown as soon as possible."

"Thats all we need. Next stop....over...there." Matt said, pointing vaguely upwards.

Naturally, Cynder was nervous about going into space. She had only just gotten used to riding inside the mechanical ship. But the thought that they were flying through an airless void unnerved her.

"You'll be fine." said Wilson kindly as the ships engines began to power up.

"Yeah, it's not the vacuum you have to worry about," said NegaMorph, "It's the zero-gravity." "NegaMorph, only you come apart in zero-gravity," said Chloe. "Oh yeah."

"And the ship has gravity plating." said Chloe. The ship shook s it took off and Cynder looked even more nervous, not helped as Matt said to techo. "I told you to fix that dampener."

"I don't feel so good about this," said Cynder. "In that case, you'll need this," said Chip, handing her a paper bag.

Cynder walked over to a view port and stopped. The ship was rotating obviously and Avalar came into view.

Cynder caught her breath as she looked upon her home planet for the first time from above. The various floating landmasses over the mantle below was definitely a sight to behold.

"Helluva sight." said Wilson, looking down at the planet. "Almost makes you forget Malefors running around down there."

NegaMorph broke the awe-inspired mood by asking, "Are we there yet?" Wilson glared. "Oh boy...don't start...we've been in the air 4 minutes." "But it's boring in space," whined NegaMorph. "Oh, go shoot asteroids." said Matt, looking up from the control console.

Matt tensed for a moment when he saw the defense satellites coming up.

Neilssons data seemed to be on the money though as the satellites didn't do a thing. There was a collective sigh as the ship went successfully by. Next stop, artificial moon," said Matt.

The moon looked quite pretty from far away...but up close it was a different story. Wilsons summed it up perfectly. "What a dump."

The moon was simply a desert, with large boulders and craters all over the place. Granted, it was like a real moon, but it still wasn't very pleasant to look at.

Matt looked at a scanner. "Normal atmosphere...no need for oxygen masks." he said

"How's the amount of gravity on it?" asked Chloe.

"Normal too...definitely a fake moon. It shouldn't have earth normal gravity." said Matt. Outside on the surface wasn't much better. "Wilson's right. This place is a dump." said Techo.

Cynder looked up to see Avalar floating over them. "Kind of odd to see Avalar up in the sky instead of the moon," she said.

"Don't worry about it." said Matt. Chloe looked at her scanner. "Damn things on the blink. We should split up." She pointed at three marines "You go with Cynder."

A short time later, Cynder and her posse were traveling through the wilderness. The scene was somewhat reminiscent of Lawrence of Arabia, except this was a moon and there was a dragon present.

"Great...what are we looking for anyway? A temple, a hole? A neon sign,. saying 'crown here'?" moaned one of the marines

"I don't know," said Cynder, "That riddle only said to go to the moon. You'd they'd at least bother to be more specific."

One of the marines nodded before jumping. "OVER THERE!" he yelled, pointing to a dune.

"What? Is it the crown?" asked Cynder. "No, I saw someone," said the marine, "They were right there."

One of his fellows sighed. "You're seeing things, Man...take a drink."

"I'm telling you, I saw something," said the marine. "Right," said another, "And who was it? A monkey in a space suit wielding a laser pistol?"

"No...It was another dragon." said the marine. His fellows all laughed. "C'mon. We scanned before landing and this mudballs a dead rock."

"I know what I saw," said the marine, "And I'm sure it was real." "Oh, don't be an idi...oh shit." said the third marine before seeing another shadow on a dune. "I told you I saw something," said the first marine.

The second marine raised his rifle. "Ok...we see you. Come down here." he yelled.

In response, fireballs started shooting at them. The first marine fell with a shriek as a fireball hit in his chest. The other two pushed Cynder down and started firing. "Boss, we're under attack by locals here...bloody hell, there's dozens of em."

Just then, lightning bolts started hitting and it struck down the marine that was on the radio, frying the radio as well.

The last marine continued firing, not noticing the second group behind him and Cynder. Then an ice spike went through him and he crumpled to the ground.

Cynder turned to see the ice dragoness responsible. It was wearing some kind of armour in a similar fashion to the sort she and Spyro had once used but this one was clearly high tech. "No escape." said the ice dragoness.

Cynder backed away and said, "I don't want any trouble." "You're enough trouble already." said the dragoness, making a small stunner appear on the shoulder of her armour and hit Cynder. "Take her to the village...now."

--

Later, Matt and the others came to the spot Cynder's group was attacked at. Matt looked at the three dead marines coldly. "Is there any signal? I want a word with whoever did this." he said in a level tone.

"I'm trying to find one," said Techo, "This isn't as simple as it looks."

Matt glared and turned, his eyes red. "GO FASTER!" he roared. "Ok, ok, don't have a cow," said Techo, "It's not like I can flip over a rock and find a trapdoor or something."

Matt stomped over, intent on punching Techo when he stepped on something that went 'clik'. Suddenly, a portal appeared in the middle of the air besides them. Matt looked down and saw he had stepped on a rock. He lifted his foot and the portal vanished a few seconds later. He placed his foot back down and the portal reappeared.

"Ok...that might explain where they are...who goes first?" said Chloe "If you think I'm being booted through first, then you better drop that thought right-" Techo was cut off when Matt kicked him into the portal. A second later, Techo stuck his head back through and said, "I did not appreciate that." "Get in there." said Matt, pushing him through and following.

--

The other side of the portal opened up to what appeared to be a jungle. But instead of a sky, there was a metallic ceiling high above. Beneath them, Matt could feel energy pulsing through the soil. "Where are we?" asked Matt. "Apparently, this is the inside of the moon," said Techo. "At least we don't have to worry about this thing being a planet buster," said Chloe.

"Who says it isn't? OUCH!" said Techo as Matt kicked him. The ceiling was so distant that you could see the curvature of the moon. A glowing orb floated in the perfect center. "Impressive, no matter what it is." said Wilson.

"Right now we need to worry about finding Cynder," said Matt, "I have a feeling that those guys who attacked her came through that portal."

"Signals good...that way." said Techo. The path led to a clearing where several run down atlantean buildings could be seen.

"Hmm, at least we have some small idea of who lives here," said Chloe. Three dragons, wearing the same armour as the ones who attacked Cynder landed around them suddenly. "Drop your weapons." snarled one of them.

"Uh, who are you guys?" asked Matt. "I said surrender. You won't rescue your dark mistress." snarled the dragon again and was shocked when Matt walked up and prodded him. "You watch it, buster."

Before Matt could blink, he found himself on his back with the dragon's sharp claws on his chest.

Matt blew a raspberry before spitting a plasma ball in the dragons face. The other two were about to react when a female voice said "For ancients sake, stand down."

Matt turned his head. From upside-down, he might have thought it was Sonya or Avarona. But it was a different ice dragoness entirely, wearing the same armor as the others.

"I apologize for the guards, shar-khan...did I say something wrong?" said th dragoness as Matt mad e a face and started gibbering.

"Uh, Matt's not fond of guessing games," said Chloe, "Whether it's him or the other guessing."

Matt said "Its a sign...a invisible neon sign." grabbing one of the guards and screaming those words in its face

"Is he insane?" asked the dragoness. "You wish," said NegaMorph. The dragoness bowed her head. "Blizzara at your service." she said before stopping. The marines with the gang were wearing familiar armour.

"Um, would you believe we come in peace?" said Chip. Blizzara glared. "Why are you here and why are you with the terror of the skies?" she said, her kind exterior setting like concrete. "Terror of the skies?" said Techo, "I know Matt's lousy at landing, but he's not that bad." Matt turned at Blizzara's words though. He'd heard that nickname before.

"Look, we don't want trouble," said Draco, "So we'll pick up our black dragoness, find a souvenir, and get going." Instantly, they found themselves face to face with several dragon claws. "Nice going, Draco," said Chip.

"You are allied with general Cynder?" snarled Blizzara. Matt said "EX-General Cynder." he said, holding up a hand.

"Take them away!" ordered Blizzara. "Oh great," said NegaMorph sarcastically, "My day isn't complete until someone throws me in a cell."

--

The 'cell' turned out to be house arrest which wasn't so bad, except for the guards outside the door.

A little while later, Blizzara turned up to check on them.

Matt was leaning against the wall. "Oh, the grand inquisitor arrives." he said NegaMorph walked into the room with a bowl of melon balls. "Say guys, the freezer's busted and- Oh never mind," he said. He walked over to Blizarra and squeazed the bottom of her neck. That caused her to reflexively breathe out ice which NegaMorph used on the bowl of melon balls. "Thanks," he said before walking away.

Blizzara glared after Negamorph before saying. "Chief Darken said you must have been misled and are free to go." she said. Matt shook his head. "Not without our friend...plus I want revenge for my men." he said. "General Cynder is guilty..." "Of several crimes that weren't her fault because she was being controlled by Malefor," interrupted Matt.

Blizzara glared at Matt. "That will be decided soon at her trial." she said "Oh goody, another trial," said Matt sarcastically, "The one time I forget Sue..."

--

Cynder was let out of her own cell, apparently having been locked up in some quarters of her own. Sadly two dragons were assigned to 'keep her in check'. "It is not nessesary. I vouch that she is safe." said Matt angrily.

"We're not taking any chances," said one dragon. "We're keeping her on constant watch," said the other.

Matt glared "Take us to your leader. Apparently he wants to see us." he said

--

Chief Darken wasn't like other dragons. And it wasn't because he was a shadow dragon. It was because notably overweight. This was apparently because he didn't have to work very hard and had servants bring him his food. Oddly enough, this fell right in with Matt's expectations.

"Behold. The great chubbo." said Matt's annoying side before he could stop it. Chloe grabbed him and shoved his helmet over his face.

"We're trying to appeal to their better nature," she hissed at him. "I'd have to take a train and two busses to get on his good side," said Matt.

Chloe thumped him on the head as a last resort. "Chief Darkan. You have made a fat...FALSE, false accusation." she said.

Chief Darken snorted and said, "There are many records of the damage and destruction that Cynder has caused. She needed to be brought to justice for years."

"She still needs to pay for her crimes," said Darken. Matt glared. "Don't make me sing." Chip thought that the conversation might need a little changing. "Uh, pardon me," he said, "But Cynder can prove she's completely good. We just need to find something that looks like an extra fancy crown to do so."

Matt was sure that a look of fear went over Darkans face for a split second. "Do you mean the crown of cleansing?"

"Yes, or the Crown of Naming as it's also called," said Chip, "You wouldn't happen to know where is, would you?"

"Thirty miles north in the old docking control tower." said Darkan promptly. "Um... thanks," said Matt, rather surprised that Darkan gave over the information so easily. Matt nodded at Techo and Wilson. "You guys stay here. Something about fatso rubs me up wrong." he said.

"Shouldn't be too hard to lose sight of him," said Wilson, "I doubt he could move anywhere that quickly."

The main tower was indeed thirty miles up. What was weird was that the group could now see the village above their heads. "Ok, thats weird." said Draco. The complex where the tower was still had a few ships. There were at least 10 ships, 5 of which were familiar. "Aren't that our ship?" said Chloe. The vessels all resembled the nighthawk in some form.

"We found both the Ohana and the Nighthawk," said NegaMorph, "We fixed them up so we could use them. How they got from here is beyond me."

Matt walked up to the tower and opened the door, turning back. "I don't like this. Could be a trap." He noticed the gangs expressions and turned to see a dragon with the glowing eyes signifying mind crontrol growling.

"Congratulations, you just won our grand prize," said NegaMorph. "You are really getting on my nerves, you know that?" said Matt.

The dragon roared ferally and tried to swat Matt who jumped back. The dragon then spat several fireballs at the group, trying to fry them.

Matt dodged the attacks and said, "Oh, why can't I ever have a peaceful mission for once?"

The dragon tail whipped him and leapt at him. "The terror of the skies demands your deaths." he said in an echoing voice.

Matt's face paled slight at that. Could this be one of Cynder's old leftover traps? But she's never been in space before. She couldn't have possibly put this dragon here.

The dragon was about to finish Matt when a lightning bolt, an ice blast and a nega-blast hit him in the back, knocking him down.

Matt looked at Chloe, Draco, and NegaMorph and said, "Thanks guys." Contrinus perched on the dragon's head and started working her healing powers on him.

The dragon's eyes crossed and the glow faded away. "Wha...where am I? Ow, I hurt." the dragon said.

"You're alright now," said Matt, "Can you tell us anything about the person who was controlling you?"

"I dunno...I was just coming off shift, turned and suddenly I'm here." said the dragon.

Chip paused and thought for a moment. "Are you sure the Crown can't be used for mind control?" he asked.

"What? What crown? You mean that wierd thing in the chief's horde?" said the dragon "Well, that explains where it is," said Chip, "But are you sure it can't be used for mind control?"

"Not if Darkan knows a few tricks of the trade. Lets get back before something happens." said Matt

--

Techo had left Wilson with Cynder. He didn't trust Darkan and had sneaked into the chiefs home. He could hear Darkan talking to someone. "I'm telling you, they fell for it hook, line and sinker,"

"They have found their way out of traps before," replied a dark voice, "You had better have a backup plan in case that one had failed."

Techo gulped and pulled out a mirror and shifted it round the corner to see Darkan, blocking the view. He could see what looked like a holo-emmiter though. "C'mon...lets see your bud, chubby." he muttered.

"Sir, you won't have to worry," said Darkan, "I'm sure they've all been torn to pieces by now. And when the dragon in there starts terrorizing the surrounding area, I'll stop it and be the hero. Then everyone will be willing to what I say."

Darkan moved aside and Techo yelped. The figure was definitely Spyro though now his purple looked slightly darker...oh and his eyes were yellow.

In Techo's shock, he let the mirror fall from his grip. It fell to floor and shattered. "What was that?" said Spyro, speaking with Malefor's voice.

Techo gulped and shot against the wall. "Pleasedunseeme." he gibbered to himself and turned to escape and found himself nose to nose with 'Spyro'.

Techo gulped, he wasn't looking at a hologram. "Uh, Spyro, long time no see," he said. "Spyro isn't here," said Malefor's voice. "Uh, yes, I can see that," said Techo, "I might have thought you'd move in."

"Look...all I have to do is scream and all my buds'll be here with a exorsism spell and a plasma cannon...so why dun you surrender now?" said Techo, faking a lack of fear.

"That won't work," said Malefor, "I have a strong grip on Spyro's body than any of the other generals. Nothing short of the Crown of Clensing will work on me."

"You know...by now the generals woulda redecorated the body...whats wrong? Losing your touch?" said Techo, trying to buy time. He had turned his comm on to Wilson and by now he n Cynder would be coming.

Malefor laughed and said, "Why would I want to change it? This body, it's young and strong. It's as if I'm in my adolescence again. I'll just wait until this body ages to adulthood naturally before changing it to match my perfect image."

"Ah...you're just a nut...but I've got opposable thumbs." said Techo, doing as best an impression of Matt's annoying tone that he could.

Malefor grinned nastily and said, "That can be changed." Techo gulped. "You can;t shoot me...no trigger finger so HAH!" he said "Oh, this won't require fingers," said Malefor, "Just that you hold still." "Like hell I am," said Techo as he turned to run. But before he could get three feet, the shadows wrapped themselves around Techo's legs. "Oh buggeration." he said and whimpered as the shadows dragged him back.

--

Wilson and Cynder were walking towards Darkan's front door when a loud scream startled them both. "Is Sparx here?" asked Cynder.

Wilson shook his head and drew his blaster. "Thats techo." he siad and blew the door down. He and Cynder ran round the corner to see a fire dragon with a few cybernetic components laying out cold at the feet of Darkan and… "Spyro..." said Cynder, horriefied.

Wilson aimed his blaster at Malefor and said, "Ok, two things. One, get your evil butt out of my friend. Two, what have you done with Techo?"

"I was just making sure he wouldn't be a good witness...as for leaving Spyro's body, I don't think so." He turned to Cynder. "Of course you two could still be together."

Cynder hissed and said, "Not in a thousand years." "Ok," said Malefor cooly, "I can wait that long."

"Fuck you." said Wilson angrily and took a few pot shots just as Malefor vanished. He and Cynder then turned to the doorway where they presumed Darkan was. "I'll look after Techo...if that is him...feel free to vent on the nice Chief." he said.

"Right," said Cynder, "I've got quite a few words for him." She snarled and stalked into the other room.

Wilson woke up the dragon with the traditional Merc way. He kicked the dragon. "Wake up, lazy ass."

"Oh... Mom, I wanna sleep in," moaned the dragon before going back to sleep.

Wilson sighed and poked the dragon with his tazer stick. "GAH! I'M UP, MA!" yelled the dragon

"Techo, are you ok?" asked Wilson. "Well," said Techo, "The last thing I remember is getting ready for the mission back at Warfang and then- Wait, why are you taller?"

Wilson sighed and pointed to a mirror. Unlike others, Wilson didn't sugarcoat things. Techo wandered over and said "Ah...just a minute." and wandered into a side room before shrieking in terror. A second scream got both their attentions though, coming from where Darkan was.

Suddenly, three guards came in. "What is going here?" they demanded. Chief Darkan ran out of the other room, looking fairly beaten up. "They attacked me!" he shouted.

Wilson pushed Darkan aside and ran to see Cynder out cold with blood on her claws. Wilson turned to the guards and said, "I know what it looks like, but Darkan did deserve that. He's been working with Malefor." "Liars...just what I'd expect supporters of the dark one to say. ARREST THEM!" yelled Darkan.

--

Matt and the rest had arrived back at the villiage with the confused dragon in tow. "Guys, we found this guy-" Matt was cut off when about half a dozen guards bared their fangs at him. "Ok, what did we do this time?" he asked.

"Darkan demands your arrest." hissed a guard. "Your foul leader revealed her true colours."

"Oh c'mon, the scaly butterball must have set her up," said Matt. "You are not welcome...leave or die." said the guard. "Wait a minute, what about Wilson and Techo?" said Matt, "I won't leave without them."

"They die too." said the guard and noticed the guys with Matt back off from him. "Get...out my way, NOW!" said Matt, his hands sharpening into dragon form.

"Oh, this should be good," said NegaMorph. Matt pointed his hands at two of the guards and two bursts of flickering plasma hit them. Matt then made a few motions and the two guards floated into the air and shot into each other with a crunch before being launched into two more guards.

"Whoa, never saw him do that before," said Chip.

The other guards looked ready to tear them apart when Blizzara's voice was heard. "STAND DOWN!" she roared

Blizarra approached the group and said, "Sorry, there's just been some confusion and-" She trailed off when she saw the dragon was with them. "Where did you find him?" she asked. "You know him?' asked Chloe. "He's my brother."

The dragon leapt forward. "Sis...These guys...I dunno. I woke up at the old ruin and these guys were there."

"We found him in the old tower," said Contrinus, "He's been under some kind of mind control."

Blizzara looked at him and back at the group. "Thank you...but your friends might be in trouble...Chief Darkan wants them tried and cleansed."

"Then we better hurry and find them," said Matt, "Where are they?" Blizzara said "They are under house arrest again. They have to stand trial tomorrow." When Matt's group went to the house the others were at, they were in for a surprise. For one thing, Cynder was unconscious and stubbornly refusing to wake up. Another was that Techo was not how they remembered seeing him last.

"Look...I am not having a good day...can someone explain where my thumbs went?" said Techo, snarling and then stopping when he realized he was.

"Well...Techo," said Matt, "At least it's not as bad as the last time you were transformed, right?"

"Don't remind me...but the metal paw feels wierd." said Techo, turning his cybernetic paw round to look at it.

"Well, I've got one little thing to say," said Draco in an annoying voice. "Don't..." warned Techo. "I think I agree with Draco," said Chip, using the same annoying tone. "I'm warning you..." growled Techo. "Welcome to the club, cousin," said Draco and Chip.

Techo howled and grabbed both Draco and Chip and started bashing them together screaming "SHUT UP!" over and over again.

Chloe turned to NegaMorph and said, "How are we going to fix this one? We don't have any of the re-sequencer equipment." "We won't need that," said NegaMorph, "From the negative energy surrounding him, I guess Malefor put a spell on him. But how to break it?" He looked thoughtful and said, "Well, there's the tried-and-tested 'getting a princess to kiss him' trick."

Techo glared and acting on new instincts, aimed his metal paw at NegaMorph, made a laser shoot out of it and make NegaMorph explode.

The others stared at Techo's paw with surprise, but Techo looked like he had just grown an extra limb. "Neat trick," said NegaMorph after he reformed, "But I think you were overreacting then. Wait, do they even have royalty here?"

This time Techo settled for thumping Negamorph on the head. Matt wandered over to the hole that Negamorph had gone down a second later. "I don't think you're used to dragon muscles yet." he said, faintly

"Apparently not," said Techo, "Especially since they're part machine. How comes I end up a cyborg and you guys didn't?"

"Maybe the translator nanites?" said Wilson. Techo just looked miserable. "What about tomorrow? We can't get Cynders side of the story out given she's in sleepy land."

Matt looked thoughtful and said, "NegaMorph says he can give people bad dreams just by standing near them when they're asleep, right?"

Chloe glared. "NO. We don't need Negamorph messing with her head...plus we don't know where he went." she said, peering down the hole. "NEGAMORPH...GET BACK UP HERE NOW!"

"It's a long way down!" shouted NegaMorph. "NO EXCUSES...USE A SHADOW PORTAL...NOT LIKE ITS LIGHT DOWN THERE!" yelled Chloe. A guard came in and screamed. "JUST SHUT UP!"

"You shut up!" retorted Matt, in a rather immature way. Negamorph came back to find both Matt and the guard arguing in the same childish way. "Oh, please." he said.

Chloe had her face in her hand. "This is so embarrassing," she groaned. "You're embarrassed?" said Techo, "At least you're able to walk four feet without tripping over yourself."

Chloe glared. The guard finally pushed Matt out the way. "General Cynder is to be taken to seperate quarters for your safety." he said.

"Our own safety?" said Wilson, "She can't hurt anyone in her sleep." "When she wakes she'll try to do to you what she tried to do to the Chief." said the Guard "I told you, she had good reason to," said Wilson, "Look at what happened to Techo!" "The chief said she did that...and the chief does not lie." said the guard coldly.

"Right," said NegaMorph sarcastically as he came up out of the hole, "And I'm really a colony of lemmings in a costume."

"Can your friend confirm she didn't do it?" said the guard. Techo looked ashamed and shook his head, his short term memory still not back.

"In that case, she shall remain imprisoned," said the guard. Chloe patted Techo on the shoulder and said, "Don't worry. You'll be back to normal again. I promise."

Matt and the group glared as Cynder was taken out. "Don't go too far." he said before rounding on NegaMorph. "You must have eaten V-Sue at some point...PUT HER TO USE OR DIE!!!"

"What? Oh yeah, I forgot. I was fortunate enough to get her in pod form. Hate to see what would have happened if..." He saw Matt's expression and said, "Er, right." His form shifted until he resembled a black version of Sue with red eyes.

"Ok...get working on the best defense since mine..." said Matt, dropping him "I'll do my best," said NegaMorph before walking off to work on his case.

--

A little later, a knock on the door was confirmed to be Blizzara, looking gloomy, not helped by Matt turning and saying. "Ah, the high inquisitor. And how can we help you?" he said.

"I want to help," said Blizzara, "I've suspected that Darkan may have something to do with my brother's brainwashing and imprisonment. If he isn't, then I at least want to repay you for bringing him back."

"Well...for one, what happens if we get found guilty? I didn't see a detention center here," said Matt

"Darkan wishes to have you executed, by being thrown into the power core," said Blizzara.

"And the power core is?" said Matt. Blizzara pointed to the artificial sun. "Well...at least its original." said Matt.

"By the way, I have good news and bad news," said Blizzara. "Good news first, please," said Chloe. "The good news is that Cynder is awake now. The bad news is that Darkan is not allowing anyone to see her."

"That fat jerk." said Matt. Blizzara winced. "...oh...and he's just outside."

Chloe glared at Matt and said, "Can you be any less diplomatic?" "Well, yes," said Matt, a shifty look in his eyes.

Darkan came in and was shocked when Matt yelled. "LOOK OUT...METEOR!", pointing at him. A second later, Chloe and Wilson jumped and gagged him.

Darkan growled and said, "Your friend is wearing on my nerves." "If only I had a credit for every time someone said that," said Chloe.

Matt was making motions that seemed to imply that Darken was in danger of attracting orbiting bodies till Techo zapped him.

"Blizzara, you can leave now," said Darkan, "I don't think they will try anything." "But sir," she said. "That's an order," said Darkan. Blizzara grumbled and left.

Matt glared and pulled the gag out. "Is this the bit where you threaten to eat us?" he said.

Darkan smirked and said, "I wouldn't think of eating you. You'll doubtless taste horrific. Anyways, you'll do better off fueling the power core."

"So...how'd you do it?" said Matt. Darken feigned confusion "I don't know what..." Chloe interrupted "Oh, come on. Cynder isn't a killer. How'd you set her up?"

Darkan smirked and said, "It's easy when you have the power of the Dark Master on your side." "So you have been collaborating with him," said Chloe. "He called me yesterday to tell me of your arrival. He promised me power in exchange for the Crown, the town, and your hides. I took him up on the spot." "How a bloated leech like you got into power, I'll never know," growled Techo.

"You're an insult to sentient life." said Matt. Chloe transformed her hands and made a lunge for Darken.

"Ah, ah, ah," said Darkan, "Attack me and it'll make you lot look even worse."

Chloe stopped dead. "Grr...you won't get away with this." she said, her teeth visibly lengthening into draconic fangs.

"I think I will, I always do," said Darkan as he left, laughing nastily.

Matt growled as well. "Dammit...its my own trial all over again." he said, sitting down, gloomily.

"Oh really?" said Chip, "Well, did you have this at your trial?" He pressed a button on his screen and Darkan's voice came out, "It's easy when you have the power of the Dark Master on your side."

Matt grinned evilly. "I love experiments." he said.

--

The next morning, Darkan and a selection of the guards he'd already used a corruption spell on were waiting as Blizzara brought the gang to the trial square. Cynder was in energy cuffs and looked dejected and sad, much to Darkens internal pleasure. He wasn't going to fry her in the power core.

Malefor had offered a better deal he handed her over to him. Of course, Cynder would be easier to transport when her morale was shattered by the sight of her friends being fried in the inferno of the power core.

Not to mention easier to change back to her old ways. Darken smiled inwardly at the thought of ruling his own section of Avalar away from this giant bauble.

"I think the first order of business is to try Cynder's followers," said Darkan allowed, "They were obviously up to something evil when I visited them yesterday."

Matt sighed and sat down. "Objection." he said.

"On what grounds?" asked Darkan. "On the grounds that you're so fat, that a chair you sit in turns into a couch."

Darkens eye visibly twitched at this. "Any real objection?" he said. Matt kicked Negamorph, still in V-Sue form.

"The opposition lacks the concrete evidence to prove any guilt of the defendants," said NegaMorph.

"Concrete? What about your little friend?" said Darken, pointing at Techo. "Hey...prove Cynder did it." he yelled.

"Were there not at least two incidents where Cynder reverted to her evil ways?" said Darkan smirking.

Matt gulped and said. "Those were due to incidents beyond her control." Darkens smile widened. "Yes...I believe you helped cause them both...first with a soul gem and second by leading her into her old headquarters." Matt stopped. Spyro, Cynder and him had never discussed those incidents.

"And where exactly did you get that information?" demanded NegaMorph. "I don't have to tell some demonic freak anytrhing...probably conjured by Cynder herself." said Darken coldly.

That proved to be a serious mistake. NegaMorph shouted, "Nobody calls me a freak!" He then launched a large glob of Sue's slime at Darkan.

Darken yelped as the goo literally went in his mouth. He gulped it down and turned a green colour. "I call a brief recess." he sand and scrambled round a corner where wretching noises were heard.

"NegaMorph, that was very unprofessional," said Matt sternly. Then he leaned closer and said, "Nice shot."

Blizzara had also covered her mouth with a wing so she couldn't be seen to be grinning. He brother however was laughing his head off.

Darken staggered back. "Lets get this done before noon." he said, hiccuping and wincing.

--

Next up was Cynder. Darken smiled mirthlessly at her. "So...you were once a loyal follower of the dark master?" he asked, doing a 'good cop' voice.

"Well, I did, once," said Cynder, "But I wasn't myself at the time." "So you admit having followed him?" said Darken, grinning nastily. "Objection. He's leading the accused." said Negamorph.

"Overruled," said Darkan, "Well, Cynder, is it true that your past is stained with blood?" "I..." said Cynder, looking like someone had kicked her. She looked ready to cry. Matt, Sonya and Spyro had never pushed to ask what she'd done, leaving it to her but Matt had a good idea that in her career she had definately killed.

"Well, I remember I was ordered to attack a village of rabbits. No quarter was to be given. I, I don't want to remember that day," she said, looking on the edge of breaking down.

Matt jumped up, forgetting himself. "STOP IT, YOU FAT GIT!" he said.

"That's enough!" said Chip sternly, "Can't you see the witness is distressed?"

Darken ignored them. "Did any escape?" he said continuing, not turning around as two of his guards jumped Matt as he tried to attack Darken.

"I think...one small family did..." said Cynder, "I don't remember them that clearly." "Your apes must have caught them. What did you do when they were..." he said and had to duck as Matt threw a plasma ball at him and was dog piled by Darkens guards.

"This is a trial, not an interrogation!" shouted Draco, "There's no point in driving the knife in any further!"

Darken sighed. "Fine...one last question. Do any of your powers remain?" he said "Well... some, not all," said Cynder.

Darken smirked. "So you still have dark potential...thats all." he said, before sitting down smugly.

--

Then it was the defense's turn. Chip was about to get up when NegaMorph put his hand on Chip's shoulder. "Allow me to make the opening statements," he said. "Are you sure? We can easily win this," said Chip. "Just trust me," said NegaMorph, "I won't screw up."

Matt sat down, smirking. He had been expecting a more violent responce from Negamorph to the 'freak' comment which meant he was saving up for something.

NegaMorph approached Darkan and said, "Darkan, have you ever seen a pie before?" "A pie? What's that?" asked Darkan. "Oh, you'll love it," said NegaMorph before pulling a pie out from behind his back and splatting it in Darkan's face.

Even Cynder cracked a smile at this. "Classic." said Matt. Darken snarled. "The hells? What was the point of that?"

"What you should really ask is 'what is seltzer'," said NegaMorph. "'What is seltzer?'" asked Darkan. "A refreshing drink, allow me to give you some," said NegaMorph before taking out a seltzer bottle and squirting it in Darkan's face.

Matt sniggered a bit. By his calculatiuons, Darkens patience reserves were almost gone.

Darkan glared at NegaMorph and said, "Have you any evidence to present?" "Yes," said NegaMorph, holding up a limp fish, "This is a mackerel." He then slapped Darkan in the face with it. "Why did you hit me with a mackerel?" demanded Darkan. "Because the tuna wasn't fresh."

Darken snapped at this and spat a dark fireball in Negamorphs face. "Present some evidence so this can be finished." he snarled as Negamorph fixed his head.

"Ladies and gents, that concludes the comedy relief, and now for the actual evidence," said NegaMorph before sitting back down.

Chip walked forward as Negamorph turned back to V-Sue and said "My friend here has evidence that not only proves my clients innocence but implicates Chief Darken in collaberating with evil incarnate."

"That's a lie!" shouted Darkan, "I would never consider the thought of being in league with the Dark Master!"

Chip pressed the play button and Darkens voice sounded, "It's easy when you have the power of the Dark Master on your side."

Darken looked around. "Its...its a trick...you're not going to believe these monsters." "Perhaps you would like to explain how Blizzara's brother ended up locked in the tower," said Contrinus.

Matt nodded at Negamorph who turned into Fibber. "And remember...we have a lie detector," said Matt. Darken looked worried and said "General Cynder did it." and winced as Negamorph buzzed loudly.

"Well, I couldn't have possibly had anything to do with it," said Darkan. NegaMorph buzzed even louder.

"Oh dear. You wanna try for double jeopardy where the moneys really good?" said Matt, enjoying how Darken was squirming.

"That creature's not a lie detector. It's obviously not working right. I've been honest with my people ever since I've become chief." Matt actually winced when NegaMorph let out a beep that threatened to vibrate his ear drums loose.

"Oh, stop talking out your rear, buddy." said Matt. Techo looked confused. "Wait a sec...you did this to me, you giant blubber blob." he said.

Blizzara had heard enough. "Darkan," she said, "You have shown behavior unbefitting of leadership and abuse of it. I hereby place you under arrest."

Darken glared before starting to laugh. "Oh please...I was more or less done anyway...so I won't get the bonus...at least you all die first." he said, throwing a glowing orb into the sky that fired beams at all the dragons, bouncing away from Blizzara, her brother, techo and Cynder. "ok...what was that lightshow for?" said Matt. "Er...captain?" said Wilson, pointing at one of the zapped dragons.

Matt stared as the dragon suddenly started sprouting extra spines and spikes. Their faces stretched and twisted into hideous crocodile-like snouts. Their size swelled up until they towered over everyone. When they had finished, they looked like large demonic dragons.

"Oh shit." said Matt faintly as the first one lunged at him. Not all the hit dragons had changed so dramatically but they were all as bloodthirsty.

"Ok, I did not see that coming," said Draco before shooting a lightning bolt at another that was attacking him.

However the lightning bolt was just absorbed. "NO LIGHTNING ON THUNDER DRAGONS!" yelled Matt, holding his opponents mouth open barely. A energy fireball hit the mutant in the back and Blizzara's brother jumped on its head. "Guess who." he said.

Blizzara shook her head with exasperation and said to her brother, "Mazer, can't you do anything elegently for once?" "Ah, where's the fun in that?" said Mazer.

Techo jumped over a normal sized mutant and said to Chloe. "Does anyone see the resemblance between the captain and Blizzara's bro?" he said to Wilson, spitting a fireball without noticing

"Now that you mentioned it," said Wilson, "Blizzara and Chloe do share a lot of..." He shook his head and said, "No, that can't be."

"I have heard of alternates." said Techo, kicking a mutant trying to get Wilson, who then stunned another about to get Techo. What cinched it was when Matt and Mazer let out identical insane laughs.

Cynder however was against Darken with Blizzara. "Why? You led us peacefully for years. Why do this?" Blizzara said.

"Ruling over this small orb was boring," said Darkan, "I want to expand my power on the actual planet. Using the Crown to manipulate the populace there would have been so enjoyable."

"The crown doesn't work like that. You know that." said Blizzara before jumping at Darken.

"I have figured out otherwise," said Darkan, "Your brother was a prime example."

Blizzara looked over at where her brother and Matt, now in dragon form were causing mayhem for the mutants. "Well...he never was very stable to begin with." she began before being tackled by one of the giant mutants. Cynder glared at Darken who said "Now to get rid of you, you little pain."

"You know, what Techo said was right," said Cynder, "You really are a leech. Now I'm going to make sure you never hurt these people ever again." She opened her mouth and let out a skull-cracking Banshee Shriek directly at Darkan.

Darken screamed in pure terror as Cynders fear breath went to work. He staggered backwards towards a shimmering teleporter pad behind him.

There was a flash of light and Darkan disappeared. A few seconds later, the power core above flickered as it burned up Darkan's fat body.

Blizzaras was about to consign herself as a chewtoy when the mutant went wide-eyed and shrunk down to its normnal form and fell down, out cold. The other mutants were also having the same thing happen.

Techo stared expectedly at himself, but he didn't change at all. "I guess the spell Tubby n Malefor used on me was different from theirs." he said. "Oh, I'm so sorry," said Blizzara and kissed him on top of the head. Suddenly, there was a flash of light and Techo was human again.

Techo had the decency to blush a bit before seeing Negamorphs smirk. "Not a word, blob boy." he said

Matt was a bit puzzled by this. "How comes that worked?" he asked. "Well," said Mazer, "Our father was chief before Darkan took over." Matt looked at Mazer. "Ok...and how would that make it work?" he said.

"Didn't the blob mention something about a princess's kiss breaking the spell?" asked Mazer, "Well, what defines a princess?"

Matt thought about this. "Point to you." he said. "I get Mazer is either atlantean or Avalarian...whats it mean in standard?" he asked.

"Actually, I think it's roughly the equivalent of Matthew," said Chip. Matt and Chip then caught on to what Chip had just said as Mazer went off happily. "No...way." he said to Chip.

"This has been a rather peculiar day," said Chip. "Yes...lets just get that crown." Matt said. Blizzara said. "That old thing? We used it to promote the next Chief." she said.

"Well, as soon as we promote..." Chloe trailed off and said, "Uh, which of you two is the eldest?"

Blizzara said. "I suppose thats Mazer but ever since you rescued him, he's been a bit..." Chloe interrupted. "Insane?"

"Well, that explains why he locked him up in the first place," said Cynder, "Maybe you should take over until, if ever, he fully regains his wits. Besides, you're a great leader. You totally deserve it."

Mazer nodded, having pulled off Matts habit of sneaking up on everyone. "Yeah...She's a cool leader...everyone ok?" he said as everyone made sure they hadn't had heart attacks.

Later, after the coronation ceremony, Blizzara gave the gang the Crown of Naming. "Here," she said, "I hope it will be of great use to you."

"Hey...we could use all the help we can get and the planets nicer then this giant pinball." said Matt. Cynder nodded "Yes. You'd be happier in Warfang." Blizzara sighed "Maybe...but we have some damage control to do here first...we dunno what other spells Darken did before he met the dark master." she said

"Yeah, fortunately you've got a princess to cancel them out," said NegaMorph. "Not a word, NegaMorph," muttered Techo, "Not one word."

Some of Blizzara's guards and Mazer walked them back to their ship. "Hey, kid...you look after yourself." said Matt before leaning in and whispering "Ignore the voices at all times."

"Now that we have the Crown, we'll be able to get rid of Malefor for good and everything will be peaceful again," said Cynder. "Uh, I wouldn't count on that happening so soon," said Wilson as he looked at the scanners' readings.

Matt and Cynder wandered over. The readout showed all the defense grid satellites., The ones in red were the ones set to cannon mode while the power mode ones were in greed. There were no more reds... "Not good." said Matt.

--

Raptor walked over to Malefor's throne. "Sire," he said, "I've just received word that Darkan's been destroyed."

Malefor sighed, uncurling from where he had been sleeping. "No matter...no doubt they have the crown...has Anton made the preperations?" he said.

"Yes, sire," said Raptor, "Soon we'll be ready to obliterate the city of Warfang and all who dwell in it."

"Very good...however I;m sure my hosts mate and her hybrid and human friends will try to mount some feeble attempt on me...I should make sure I am prepared." he said and began to glow...and grow.

When the light dimmed, Malefor looked like his old self. "There," he said, "I would have preferred to have a few more years of youth, but I'll have all the time in the world when this world is mine."

**Uh oh…looks like the endgame for our heroes is imminent…will they save spyro? Tune in next time.**

**--**

_**NSC Infonet file #2479: Alternates**_

_**Alternates: An alternate is found in most every dimension, usually a modification of a specific person. The 'clones' are usually different, be It from a specific decision that they made in some point of their lives or in extreme cases, even a different species. (A prime example in this chapter with Matt and Mazer). While the NSC forbids people contacting their alternates, there are cases where contact has been impossible to avoid.**_

_**#File ends…**_


	17. Final Fall

**Spyro, Cynder, and all other Spyro related characters are property of Sierra studios. **

**Draco, Contrinus, Chip and Cydra are property of my co-author, Cydra. **

**Matt, his merc team, the NSC and related tech, the ancients/atlanteans and malefors dragon generals are mine.**

**CPS Chronicles: Forgotten Blood**

**Chapter**** 17: Final Fall**

Matt and company had barely arrived back from retrieiving the crown and had come back to find what could only be described as organized chaos. NSC personnel were running back and forth, sending goods up to the NSS Warlock.

"Hey, what's-" Matt tried to ask a passing trooper, only for the trooper to run past him. "Excuse me, could you-" Chloe was passed without so much as a second look. "Allow me," said NegaMorph. He pulled out a frying pan and held in front of another soldier. The soldier had no time to go around and his face ran right into the pan before he fell backward. "What's cooking?" asked NegaMorph.

Cynder poked the unconscious trooper while Matt strangled Negamorph, yelling "THEY'RE SUPPOSED TO BE ABLE TO TALK AFTER YOU STOP THEM!!!" "I didn't think he'd be running that fast," wheezed NegaMorph.

"GAAAAH!~" yelled Matt and started hitting Negamorph while Chloe grabbed another trooper. "What the hells going on?" she demanded. The trooper said "We're pulling out while the defense grids offline...generals orders."

Matt was about to give NegaMorph another punch when he heard what the trooper said. "What? We're up and leaving like that?" he said.

"Neilsson says the defense grids down...we're gonna go get the reserve fleet and come back." said the trooper.

"It'd be too late," said Matt, "Time moves faster here, or maybe it's slower back in Nullspace, I'm not certain. Anyways, we won't be back at the right time."

"Take it up with the boss...I wanna be outta this crazy place ASAP." said the trooper, running off with the stuff he had been carrying.

"Believe me, I will," said Matt darkly before going back to slap NegaMorph's face for good measure.

A little lkater, Neilsson was found talking to the eldars. "...and we can have full support with a psy-corp unit within hours of our return. Malefor won't know what hit him.£ he said saying as the Lynches came in.

"Sir, as much as I would appreciate having support from NSC, there's one little hitch with your plan," said Matt, "Time length isn't that stable between this world and Nullspace. The support ships would arrive five years later, at which point this place would be just a barren husk."

"If we stay here without support we're all dead men." said Neilsson before sighing. "I understand but the Warlock is not equipped for this operation...its Starfuries aren't even space rated...all those types are at Banshee base still." he said

"But we have the last chakra device," said Matt, "The crown that'll remove Malefor's spirit from Spyro's body and get rid of him once and for all." "Malefor's in Spyro's body?!" shouted Zara. "Uh, we only found out a few hours ago," said Chloe.

Neilsson glared. "So...whats the plan...go in guns blazing? Thats worked so well last time." he said

"Um, no," said Matt, feeling rather awkward that Neilsson had guessed the plan he had a few secodns ago, "We, uh, sneak into Banshee Base and, um, hijack some of the Starfuries. Yeah."

Neilsson glared even harder. "That was quick...sounds a bit rushed for a plan." he said

"Hey, I'm still smoothing out the details," said Matt, "Just give me time to try it out. If we leave now, we'll be leaving the dragons to their doom."

Neilsson glared. Fine...I'm ordering a message drone launched though." he said.

Neilsson and the dragon elders left to further discuss the matter. As soon as they were gone, Matt's face turned pale and asked, "Did I really suggest we try to steal Starfuries from Banshee Base?"

Chloe nodded. "Yup...you must either be brave. stupid or you let your mouth go on automatic again." she said, grinning

"Right, well, it's just a suicide mission," said Matt weakly, "Shouldn't be too bad." He walked over to a wall and started banging his head against it.

--

A little later and a group of starfury pilots had arrived at the ship. 2So...when we get our wings...what are we gonna do with em?" said the squadren leader to Chloe. They couldn't talk to matt as he was still gibbering.

"We'll strafe Malefor's base and force him to come out," said Chloe, "You guys will keep his minions away from him while one of our team slips in and places the chakra device on his head."

Neilsson however was not in a good mood. Despite what the lynches throught of him he cared about the wellbeing of the men under his command and he was certain that by the end of the day not all of them would be alive.

Then the Warfang's A.I. stated, "Alert, enemy forces approaching." Neilsson rubbed his forehead and said, "Figures as much. This day's just going to be one giant sinkhole."

"Display enemy count." he said and a number began to count up. Neilsson ran out the door to find Capytain Lynch when the number went past 7 digits.

--

Avarona, Devina, and Raptor were standing behind Malefor as he looked at Warfang. "Ah, at long last I shall claim this city as its rightful ruler," said Malefor, "It is a pity I no longer have Striker or Shard at my side to witness this."

The image flickered for a second...a hologram created by Anton's techs repairing a holo-emmitter. Anton walked through it as it vanished. "The droids will make mincemeat of the moles, my lord. My men report the relay station is 100 percent operational." He stopped for a second.

"Is there something troubling you, Anton?" asked Malefor. "I still think we should have kept more droids back at the base for security," said Anton.

Malefor glared. "We will achieve total victory within the hour...your machines are not needed." he said. Anton said "But they have the final devi..." and was interrupted "DO NOT QUESTION ME...MY ORDERS STAND."

Anton winced and said, "Yes, my lord. You'll understand that I'm only concerned about the possibility of a sneak attack." Malefor laughed and said, "Matthew Lynch couldn't possibly be foolish enough to try to sneak in here."

--

Matt however was concidering it. Now he had gotten over the shock of what the plan had been, it was piecing together well...or it had been till Neilsson had summoned them. "Scanners say its easily every droid you saw in the base stores...all headed this way." he said, showing a frew scanner imges they'd gotten.

Matt's jaw dropped. "Ok, if anyone has a MacGuffin that could save our butts now, please raise your hand now," he said.

"I actually have an idea...but it'll make your job harder...or easier depending how you see it." he said, pulling up another image, this of a large orbital facility. "This is what we think the defence grid is now powering." he said

"Its a orbital relay station for tyhe droids. As long as its active that armies gonna make our lives difficult...your pilots will have to take it out instead of supporting you."

Matt was starting to break out in a sweat when Neilsson said, "Fortunately, because there are so many droids coming here, the base will be largely unguarded."

Matt perked up at this. "Wilson and Techo can stay help with defence..." he said. Neilsson nodded "I suppose we should hold out as long as possible..." he said gloomily.

--

Cynder however was not as convinced with the plan as Neilsson had been.

"Come on, Cynder," said Matt, "It's as easy as pie." "I don't know," said Cynder, "Your plans rarely turn out as simply as they're made."

Matt sighed. "This isn't Ape central...its much easier then that...we go in...give Malefor some new head gear and evict him permanently." he said

"I still get this feeling that something will go awry," said Cynder.

Matt shrugged. "Plan B is that we stun Maleefor into dreamland and shoot his mates a few hundred times." he said

"But isn't one of his mates your mate?" asked Smoldron, who was joining on the assault plan along with Sonya.

"Ok.,..stun Malefor and Avarona then shoot the others." said Matt.

"But Raptor and Devina have stolen their host bodies too," said Chloe, "We should try to free them, even though I don't really know who they are."

Matt glared and wandered off. Chloe just laughed. "Sometimes it's too easy." she said. Cynder however looked gloomy. "We have to save him...Spyro I mean. Malefors gone too far." she said.

"Oh, no question about that," said Contrinus, "I'd like to peck out his eyes for taking my Draco and... Oh wait, those would be Spyro's eyes. Drat."

Techo ran up. "I don't think we have that long." he said, before waving for them to follow. Dozend of marines were going by, some with rifles and plasma launchers, and others carting mounted gun kits up to the wall. The group followed them up to the top of the wall and got a good look. "That...is not good." said Matt.

It was almost like the Siege of Warfang, with grublins as far as the eye can see. The sky was thick with the red wyvern-like creatures that served as Malefor's air force. But most disconcerting was the thousands of droids that were filling in the ranks.

Matt could also see a few dozen AAT tanks and even two spider droids. "This is pretty bad." said Chloe. Matt nodded. "Just means we need to work faster." he said.

"Then what are we waiting for?" said NegaMorph, "We've got evil dragon souls to exorcise." "But how are we going to fly through all those... bat-things?" asked Draco.

I hate to say it...but Volteers teleporter spell may bre in order." gulped Matt, remembering the two times he had been a subject of it.

"You're hesitating, why are you hesitating?" demanded Chip, "We're not going to end up there as one misshapen organism, right?"

"No...but the last time I used it I was an ice cube for 12 hours." said Matt.

--

Volteer was found with the other eldars, preparing for battle.

"Yes, the teleportation spell may serve as the best means of convenience in order to successfully infiltrate Malefore's base of operations," said Volteer.

Neilsson had also been there. "There should be plenty of dropships still on base for you to get outta there with...just do it fast...we don't have enough ammo for all those guys." he said.

"Are you certain it's safe?" asked Chip, "I don't want end up teleported into a wall or something." "Chip, compared with the danger we're going to be facing, I hardly think the teleporting's what you need to worry about," said Sonya.

The pilots did look worried. "We're on the verge of literally walking into a dragons lair...a doubt we should worry about how we get there...we should save it for when we do get there." said the pilot leader

Techo and Wilson watched as Matt, Chloe, Cynder, Draco, Chip, Contrinus, NegaMorph, and the pilots vanished in a flash of yellow light. "Well," said Wilson, "It's just us and the dragons against an uncountable number of grublins, droids, and bat-things." Techo nodded his head and said with flat acceptance, "Eh, we're all gonna die."

Neilsson glared at the two mercs. "My eyesight must be amazing...I know you're on the wall barricade yet I can see you as if you're right in front of me." he said before yelling "GET YOUR BUTTS IN GEAR OTHERWISE THE GRUBLINS WILL BE THE LEAST OF YOUR WORRIES!!!"

Wilson and Techo quickly scrambled out of the room. "You have a very good control over your men," said Zara, sounding a little impressed.

"No....but I can make their lives hell if they don't do what I say...if you will excuse me." said Neilsson, pulling out a pulse pistol.

When Techo, Wilson, and Neilsson were on the battlements, one droid stepped in front of the others. "Denizens of Warfang!" called the droid, "This is your only opportunity to surrender. Failure to comply will result in indiscriminate termination!"

The eldars and most of the reamining adult dragons were hovering over the city wall. "WE WILL NEVER BOW TO MALEFORS RULE!" roared Zara. Techo however had a better answer, aiming and blowing the droids head off.

Neilsson gave Techo a slightly disapproving look. "What?" said Techo, "Someone was going to do it eventually."

The Grublins however seemed to be getting riled up by Techo's actions, snarling and roaring. "Nice work, Techo...you're almost as good at causing mayhem as your boss." said Neilsson.

"I'll take that as a compliment," said Techo as he prepared to fire some more.

The grublins all began running at the wall, the droids all starting to march forward. "Take aiiim." yelled a captain, the marines under his command taking aim. "Oh, shut up and fire." said Wilson. Every gun on the wall opened up at the same deafening time, the first line of grublins falling down or being thrown into their comrades behind them. "Lynch better hurry..." yelled Techo

--

At Banshee Base, the Starfury hanger was totally still, with no guards inside it at all. Suddenly, there was a flash of yellow light and a group of people appeared.

Negamorph staggered around. "Ow...I CAN'T SEE!" he yelled.

"Oh, quit your bellyaching," said Chloe, "You just got your hat over your eyes."

Negamorph pulled his fedora back up. "I knew that." he said innocently. The pilots werew about to had for their starfuries when a door at the other end of the launch bay opened and two of Antons men walked in. "What the hell?" said one of them and fired, hitting one of the pilots.

"I thought this place would be deserted!" shouted Matt. "Actually, Neilsson said 'Mostly deserted'," reminded Cynder.

Several more of Antons men ran in, yelling into comms for backup. Most of the pilots had gotten into their starfurties, the fighters flying out the main hatch. However one was tagged by an active turret, spiraling out of control into the lava below

Draco and Chip were trying to avoid being shot at. "It looks like I've gotten kinda rusty since being commandeered," said Draco as he narrowly avoided getting a hole in one of his wings. "I think we should sit this one out," said Chip, "Better find a hiding spot where we could potentially assist the others."

The two scrambled into a vacant starfury fighter and watched as Antons men were forced back. "Maybe they're ok after all." said Draco before a familiar rumbling was heard.

--

Matt looked to the source of the noise as several large 'boulders' appeared.

Matt watched as the 'boulders' rolled to a stop before unfolding into large robots. "Oh great," said Contrinus, "They've got Transformers too."

The droideka MK 2's looked at the group before opening fire, killing one of the tag along marines and forcing the rest to hide. Draco looked at the controls of the Starfury. "One of these has to be the pulse cannons." he said, randomly flicking a switch

"Auto-pilot engaged," said the Starfury's computer as the engine. "Oops, wrong switch," said Draco, "Let's try this one." That switch resulted in the hatch closing shut.

Chip grabbed Draco. "Down there." he gibbered, pointing at the control joysticks as one of the driodeka's turned to aim at the starfury.

Draco grabbed the joysticks and pushed them away from the direction of the droideka.

The starfury didn;t respond until Draco caught one of the joystick trigger with his claws, causing the fighters cannons to spew two pulse orbs into the droideka, wrecking it. "Now this is fun." said Draco, firing at the next one.

Matt and the others peered out as the starfury with draco and chip in it, fired at the last droideka, blowing it in half before flying out the hatch and into the sky. "Hey...turn us round." said Chip.

"Uh, I don't know how," said Draco. "What?" cried Chip, "But you fly all the time! "Yeah," said Draco, "On my own wings. Can't you pilot this thing?" "I'm a computer hacker, not a wingman," said Chip. "Then hack this thing's computer," said Draco.

"Hack countermeasures are engaged...combat situation in 4 minutes." said the computer calmly.

--

Meanwhile, Matt, Chloe, Cynder, Contrinus, and NegaMorph were trying to locate Malefor in the base. "Don't forget to tell us of any booby traps we might find," said Matt. "Relax," said NegaMorph, "This place couldn't have gone through that many cosmetic redesigns after I saw the blueprints."

The path led into a cavern sized room, filled with energy relays, all powering the bases systems, those that had not been torn out when Malefor and the generals had 'redecorated'. However that wasn't all that was in the room.

The generals were waiting for them there. Avarona had Tuatara on a leash that shut down his motor skills below the neck.

"Uh oh...its the dark side of the welcome wagon." said Matt.

"Matt," said Avarona cooly, "I was hoping I'd have the change to settle the score with you today. Of course, Tuatara here is a bit competitive in that regard." Tuatara snarled at Avarona and probably would have already started attacking if it weren't for the leash.

"Let us past or else." said Matt. Raptor glared "Or else what?" Matt gulped. "Or we'll find another way round?" he tried

"If you think we'll allow you to put the Crown of Naming on Malefor's head for any other reason than declaring him your king, you are sorely mistaken," said Devina.

"Fine...we need to test run it anyhow." said Matt. Devina looked at Cynder. "You must be desperate to bring a hatchling traitor." she sneered.

"If you by 'traitor', you mean to Malefor, I'm proud that I am," said Cynder, "But I am not such a hatchling anymore!" Suddenly, she surged up into her adult size and form.

Raptor roared. "KILL THEM!" and had to duck a lightning bolt from Chloe. Avarona deactivated Tuatara's control collar and sat back to watch as Tuatara howled in pure rage and lunged at Matt

Matt narrowly avoided being decapitated by the cyborg lizard's razor claws. "You know, there have got to be other methods of releaving your stress other than trying to slice me apart," said Matt, "Have you ever tried primal scream therapy?"

Tuatara roared and grabbed Matts arm, swinging him round and across the room to land next to one of the ion relays. "I will take much pleasure in gutting you." he hissed, walking towards Matt.

"Uh, just out of curiosity," said Matt, "Suppose you succeeded in killing me. What would you do with your life then?"

"I'll move on to killing those who ever knew you." hissed Tuatara, jumping over the ion relays emitter. He picked Matt up and readied his claws to slash Matts throat when Matt saw the relay charging. "You'll...have to wait a littlke...longer." said Matt, blasting Tuatara and making the mutant stagger back into the ion beam.

Tuatara roared loudly as the beam arched through him. His cybernetic body spasmed and shuddered before falling sideways. Tuatara didn't look completely dead, but his brain sure did judgin from the way he was drooling.

Matt managed to lever the cyborgs grip loose and turned to be picked up by Avarona. "Oh...forgot about you, bluey." he said, in a bored tone.

"You know, I had originally planned on possessing your sister," said Avarona, "The one you struggled so hard to hold onto your humanity becoming the one who killed you would be so delissiously ironic. But possessing the body of the one you truly love is even better."

"Erm...you said this when you first grabbed Kala...whats wrong? Memory loss?" he said in an annoying voice.

"Oh, yes," said Avarona, "Of course, you know that I'm not going to let you live to see another day. Of course, I have one last offer for you. I'm giving you the chance to mate with your love one last time. Perhaps if you're lucky, you'd be able to conceive an offspring. Of course, it'd never know its father, but I'll make sure it would be raised properly."

"I gotta counter-offer...and some advice." said Matt, readying something out of sight.

"And what would that be?" said Avarona, preparing to rip Matt's left leg off.

Matt smirked "When you've got someone...don't gloat." said Matt and threw the exorcism spell he'd prepared in Avarona's face.

Avarona roared and staggered backwards, dropping Matt.

A glowing blue mist began to come out of her mouth and eyes. "No...I won't go back...I almost..." she said but was cut off as she was removed from Kala.

"And one more thing," said Matt as the mist started to sink into the ground, "There's a lot more to being mates than just sex. Of course, a frozen heart like yours could never feel anything like true love. Think about it while you spend the rest of time in Hell."

Devina and Raptor now realized they might be in big trouble. "Makes you wish you chose a different profession, eh?" said Chloe, dodging a bolyt from Raptor and returning with one of her own.

"You might be able to defeat us," said Raptor, "But the glory of Malefor will live on forever. He'll be vanquished by any human, dragon, or alien. His power is far beyond all of yours combined. Furthermore-"

Devina sighed. "Oh, shut up, Raptor." she said, tearing a shadow portal open and dragging him in.

NegaMorph glanced at the comatose Tuatara and the staggering ice dragoness that will soon become Kala again. "Well, two out of four's not bad," he said.

Kala was toppling over when Matt caught her. Fortunately, she was already starting to shrink so he didn't stagger too much. As he watched, the blue scales molted off to reveal red fur while the horns and wings retracted into her body.

Matt pointed at NegaMorph. "Take the marines and Kala and get us a ride out of here. We have one more job here then we can go celebrate." he said, looking at the door that their enemies had been guarding. Chloe commented, "Let's hope we do it in time."

--

Meanwhile, the city of Warfang was under heave siege. The whole of Malefer's hoard was battering against the walls and gate. As such, the dragons and mercs had their hands full.

The Grublines had started trying to climb into the wall, ignoring the shots aimed down at them and the sweeping slashes from dragons. Techo blasted a grublin back down with a well aimed shotgun blast only for another to climb up in its place. All along the wall, it was mostly turning into a melee between the NSC forces and the grublins.

"Where does Malefor get all these things?" said Wilson as he blasted another grublin to gem bits.

"I dunno...Why don't you ask him?" yelled Techo sarcastically, pushing a grublin over the edge. A second later a energy shell blew part of the wall to pieces, taking a dozen troopers with it. The first tanks were entering range. The tank itself however earned a second problem as Volteers swept towards it.

The turret that served as a primary weapon also served as a lightning rod as Volteer unleashed a massive amount of electricity at it.

The resultant blast as the tanks ammo ignited took out a good portion of the droids supporting it but it was a drop in the sea. "This is getting annoying." yelled Wilson, kicking a grublin and pushing him into another one climbing up.

Suddenly, a grublin jumped on Techo's shoulders. It was about to knock his head off when a strong gust of wind blew it away.

Techo got up to see Xyphros blasting a few other grublins. "Bloody good shot, mate." he said before apparentiy aiming at Xyphros. The blast shot past the wind dragon and decapitated a grublin warrior about to strike the dragon from behind

"A little warning next time would be preferable," said Xyphros as he tail whipped another grublin.

"Ok...if we live through this." said Techo as more grublins swarmed into view.

--

Meanwhile, the group of Starfuries the marines had hijacked were starting to close end on the relay station. However, among them were a pair of more reluctant pilots.

"I'm telling you, it won't let me." said Chip. The computer said "Access denied...RV Point not reached." The two looked up to see the other fighters scattering as a swarm of droid foghters detached from points on the station and flew at them.

"Well I hope you're capable of learning how to fly ships fast because I do not want to end up a bunch of shooting stars," said Draco.

The starfury pilots had the advantage of being able to think outside instructions but it seemed the station itself had some tough shielding as strafe after strafe failed to damage it. Draco and Chip jumped as a starfury was torn apart from the stations pulse cannons. A swarm of droid fighters flew straight at them, flying around them and shooting as they did.

Just then, Chip managed to flick a switch and the computer said, "Auto-pilot disengaged." "Draco, you're in the pilot's seat," said Chip, "You're going to have to fly this thing."

Draco gulped. He was used to doing his own flying. "Erm...ok." he said and experimentally pulled to the left. The starfury span left...literally. A droid fighter tried to follow and crashed into the station shield. "WRONG WAY!" yelled chip as another drid fighter flew at them.

Draco pushed down, causing the Starfury to go into a nosedive. Draco was able to pull them out of it, but now they were flying upside down.

The droid fighter they'd missed came up behind them and unloaded some shots into one of the fighters engines. The fighter began to spin out of control, headed for some kind of docking bay in the station, screeching along to a stop. "Warning...engine cooldown cycle online." said the computer.

--

Meanwhile, Matt's group continued to look for Malefor. It won't be easy now since Devina and Raptor would probably warn him they were here.

"Look...its nice and easy...Cynder holds Malefor down and we shove the crown on him." said Matt, looking up at Cynder. "Should be easy given that loony hasn't gone to super size mode."

"I'm just worried that Raptor and Devina would try to skin us before we do that," said Contrinus.

"Those wimps have probably jumped ship..." said Matt.

"Can they do that?" asked Chloe, "I'm not certain if they can leave their host bodies or not, but aren't they bound in Malefor's service?"

"Cynder quit...I suppose they can too." said Matt. The large corridor ended at a huge pair of doors. "Ding. Evil mastermind department." said Matt.

"Too bad we don't have NegaMorph here," said Contrinus, "He'd be able to pick the lock in no time." Cynder jumped up and slashed each of the hinges with her poison claws. The doors toppled forward. "Yeah, or we could do that," said Matt.

The room inside was almost pitch black. "Knock knock." yelled Matt, throwing a plasma ball into the air to illuminate the room

Sitting on a large throne was Malefor, in his original form. "I was wondering when you would get here," said Malefor.

"Ok...I thought you liked youth." said Matt. He hadn't reslly planned for this. Chloe glared. "So...you're Malefor...you're almost as bad as when you were a dracolich." she said

A frown appeared on his face. "I wish you wouldn't use that word. It reminds me too much of a certain sniveling worm," he said.

"Oh yeah...I can see where he got the idea for his look." said Chloe. Cynder glared. "Its over, Malefor." she said.

Malefor looked at Cynder's adult body. "Don't think you can intimidate me like that. You may be able to fool time, but you can't fool me. After all, I'm the one who gave you that body in the first place." His eyes flashed and Cynder groaned as she felt a lot of energy leave her body as it shrunk back to her teenage form.

"Ok...not good." said Matt. Malefor said "What I give, I can take away." He then flexed his claws. "And now you die." he said, jumping off the throne, forcing the group to scatter.

Chloe tried to hit Malefor with a lightning bolt, but Malefor conjured a shield with his breath and deflected the blow.

Matt tried a plasma blast which was deflected as well. Cynder sent a fear blast to little effect. "Ok...thisa is bad." said Matt, dodging a blast, before shifting to dragon form, hoping to use the flying ability to dodge blasts better.

Contrinus flew in close to hit Malefor with a point-blank blast of firelight, but Malefor merely swatted her to the floor. "This is what you bring as backup? A songbirg?" said Malefor laughing, "The only use she can be of is as a tasty snack."

He opened his mouth to bite Contrinus...a mistake as Matt and Chloe both sent blasts down his throat, making his eyes cross.

Malefor coughed, making a smoke ring come out of his mouth. "You're going to regret that," said Malefor before he sent spears of fire energy at them.

Matt fell back, the crown sliding across the floor. "Grab it." he said running for it.

Suddenly, the earth shook as the ground rose up to block Matt's path. "So that is the fabled Crown of Clensing," said Malefor, "So you plan to remove me from Spyro's body and banish me back to the core of the planet, do you? Well I can't let you do that!"

Matt tossed a plasma ball at Malefor and lunged for the crown.

Malefor smacked the ball away and was about to attack Matt when Chloe hit him in the back with a spear made of lightning.

Malefor turned to swat her when Cynder sent a shadow fire blast into his back. Matt had managed to get round the rock wall and had the crown. "CYNDER...GO LONG!" he yelled and threw it frisbee style.

Cynder jumped up and caught in her teeth. "No!" shouted Malefor. He was about to blast Cynder when Contrinus sent a burst of firelight into his face. As Malefor staggered around to get his sight back, Cynder swooped down and planted the crown on Malefor's head.

Malefor shook the lights from his eyes and maanged to say. "No!" Before the gem set into the crown glowed.

Malefor roared loudly as his body was covered with silver light. Then it looked like a purple shadow was thrust away from his body.

Nobody noticed the shadow float away, looking to Spyro, as his body shrank back to his teenage age. Cynder ran up to him as Spyro reappeared, unconcious.

Matt sighed and said, "It's over. It's finally over."

Meanwhile, Draco and Chip had managed to enter the station. "Uh, out of curiosity," said Draco, "How are we going to get back when we blow this place up?" "I'll figure it out as we go," said Chip.

Several tgroopers with EXP Buster rifles ran round the corner. "There they are...waste em!" yelled one.

Draco and Chip quickly turned tail and ran back to their Starfury. As they scrambled to get in, Chip, in his haste, accidentally a large red button.

A rocket shot out a wing pod, flew over the heads of the troopers and hit somrething in the back, making the lights flicker. "Systems restored...full flight capacity online." said the computer.

"Uh, I think now would be a good time to leave," said Chip. Draco sighed and said, "This is not a method of flying I like." "Too bad," said Chip, "Unless you can make reentry by just flapping your wings."

The starfury shot out just as an exlosion ripped the bay apart.

--

On the bridge of the station, the crew worked at controls. "Reset to relay 2." said the captain. "Sir...incoming jump point..." called a technician.

--

Suddenly, an Empire destroyer appeared on the radar screen.

"Oh shit...all furies scatter." yelled the squadren leader. Draco and Chip looked in horror as the huge vessel settled next to the relay station.

"How did they get here?" asked Draco. "Who cares, let's get out of here!" shouted Chip.

"Sir...this can't be right...they're targetting the station." said a pilot over the comm. He was right as the ship hit the station dead center with both its laser cannons, tearing it to bits.

--

Meanwhile, Malefor's army was nearly finished breaking through the gates. Then suddenly, every droid stopped moving and shut down.

The grublins looked confused, looking at their allies in what could be horror. Neilsson peered over the barricade the troops had put up for when the enemy broke through. "GET EM!" he yelled,.

Just then, Neilsson got a transmission through his communicator, "Commander Neilsson, tell your men to evacuate Banshee Base. They have two minutes before we demolish it."

"Who is this?" yelled Neilsson angrily, abscently blasting a grublin. "This is Captain Kordan, acting on orders of General OmegaMorph...we will tolerate no interference...Kordan out." Neilsson stared at the comm. "GET ME LYNCH...NOW!" he yelled.

--

Meanwhile, Matt's group was trying to find the way out of Banshee Base. "Maybe we shouldn't have sent NegaMorph back," said Matt, "He knows where to find the exit for this place."

Matts comm turned on. "Lynch...This is Neilsson. You have incoming...the Empire's gonna take the base out...get out no...." the message cut off as what was apparently the approaching ship jammed it. Spyro, being carried by Chloe, groaned as he came round.

"Oh, good, you're awake," said Cynder. "But we won't be alive much longer if we don't leave now," said Chloe. Then Chloe's comm turned on. "Chloe, this is NegaMorph, my ship got a message from Captain Kordon of the Empire. He's going to be bombing the base. I've got a ship ready for you guys outside."

"Great...thats wonderful....where's the exit?" said Matt down the comm.

"Ok, where are you guys at right now?" asked NegaMorph.

"Not far from where we creamed the generals." said Matt. "Good...just go through there." said NegaMorph. Nobody noticed the purple shadow following them, before looking around the room. It focused on the inert mindless husk that was Tuatara.

"I wonder where Anton is," said Chloe. "Who cares?" said Matt, "If he's still in here when this place goes kablooey, all the better."

The groups path had ended on a walkway over the room that they had fought the generals in. Matt looked down. "Hey...where did cyberlizard go?" he said.

"That's odd," said Chloe, "I thought that ion blast offlined his brain permanently." "You don't think he has some sort of backup system, do you?" asked Contrinus.

"I doubt it..." said Matt. He was the last one on the walkway when a shape landed behind him.

Matt was about to turn around when something hard and strong swatted him into a wall.

The others turned only for a laser blast to cause the blast door to seal. Matt got up, shaking stars from his vision, only for a second blast to knock him over the walkway and down to the room floor.

Matt winced as the breath was knocked out of him by the fall. He heard a thud and lifted his head up to see metallic talons standing on the floor.

"Oh boyu...Tuatara...you're looking ewell." said Matt, before nticing the eyes of his old enemy were now yellow

"Tuatara is no longer here." Instead of the familiar snarl, Malefor's voice rumbled out of Tuatara's mouth, "His mind, what little was left of it, is gone for good. Which makes it all the easier for me to control this body."

"Good for you..." said Matt weakly, backing up before throwing a plasma orb in the monsters face

"I'm kinda surprised you haven't already done your cosmetic surgery," said Matt, "Machines too hard to twist?"

Malefor replied with a backhand that sent Matt flying.

"Your body will make a fine substitute," said Malefor, "Until I get back to Spyro that is." He attempted to leave Tuatara's body, but was surprised to find that he can't.

Matt wasn't sure and backed up. Malefor realized to his horror that Tuatara's body was too much machine...he was trapped.

When it became apparent that Malefor was in Tuatara for keeps, Matt said, "You know, you ought to have taken a lesson in Ghoulwyrm in possessing. He's more choosey about who he bode-snatches."

Malefor snarled angrily. "Then I will just have to settle for killing you." he snarled.

"Yeah, yeah, Tuatara's never been able to do it," said Matt, "Why should now be any different?"

Malefor lifted his hand, muttered a few words and a fireball shot out. "Ok...so you have an advantage over him." he said, before running for it.

Then Chloe's voice came through his comm. "Matt, what's going on in there?" she asked. "Oh, Malefor's unintentionally imprisoned himself in Tuatara's body and is now trying to kill me," said Matt, "You guys better get out of here before the base blows."

"Fat chance." was the simple reply. Matt dodged a slash from Malefor and ran for it

--

The pilot yelled at Chloe. "We're outta time..we gotta go now!"

"Not without Matthew," said Chloe, "I will not leave him behind."

"We're dead if we stay." yelled the pilot. Matt came running out the door and headed for the dropship, slamming the door on what was probably Malefor judging from the roar of pain.

"Don't just stand there, get the ship up!" shouted Matt as fist-shaped dents appeared in the door.

A marine got on the door gun and opened fire as Malefor tore the door down. A blast from his bodies wrist cannons hit the marine. "FASTER WOULD BE BETTER!" yelled Matt. They seemed to have made it when the ship shook and a clawed hand grabbed Matts leg

Chloe grabbed Matt's wrist before Matt was pulled over the side. Matt yelled in pain as he felt like he was going to be torn in half.

Malefors face came into view before an energy blast hit Chloe, knocking her back. He and his prey fell back to the ground. Chloe looked back down. "TAKE US DOWN!" she yelled and tried to jump out.

NegaMorph grabbed her and said, "We can't. That destroyer is going to destroy base in a few seconds."

"No...let me go...no." she yelled. The pilot looked over. "Hitting the burners...hold on." he said.

--

Matt got up to see the dropships engines blaze and it shoot off.

Though he was saddened to see the dropship leave without him, he consoled himself that Chloe and the others would be safe. However, he had to make sure that Malefor wouldn't escape the incoming explosion alive.

"Ok, you nutcase...you wanna piece of me?" he said.

--

Capt Kordan looked at the gunnery officer. "Are we in position?" he said

The officer nodded and said, "Yes sir. The target is locked on and we're ready to fire."

"Load up reality shells into cannons 1-4 and fire...if the NSC are still there they had their chance." said Kordan.

--

Meanwhile, Matt was fighting his hardest against Malefor. The combination of Tuatara's weaponry and Malefor's magic was almost too much for Matt. "You cannot stop me," growled Malefor, "I am far stronger than you." "A battle isn't decided by who's the strongest, but who's the slyest," said Matt.

At that moment the bases siren began to wail. "Red alert. Incoming orbital ordinance." said the computer. Malefor glared at Matt. "Sacrificing yourself...how noble." he sneered.

"You wouldn't know noble if it was about to kick you in the face. Oh wait, it is." With that, Matt kicked Malefor hard in the face. He was satisfied to see several teeth fly out.

Malefor snarled and punched Matt back in the chest, causing some crunching noises. A glow got both their attentions. Four glowing blue orbs could be seen in the sky, homing in.

"I don't know if I've lived a good enough life or not," said Matt, "But if not, I'll see you in Hell!"

His wrist comp beeped "Alert...incoming reality weaponry." A second later the shells hit and a dome of pure reality energy shot into them both.

--

The dropship was thrown violently as the shockwave hit it.

NegaMorph struggled hard to both keep Kala's unconscious body from flying out and to keep a distraught Chloe from jumping out and going back.

"Hold on...setting her down." yelled the pilot, crashing the dropship into a pile of ash. Chloe just stared at the orb of energy where the base was as the others got out.

"He went out like a hero," observed Spyro, "To make sure Malefor would be gone for good."

--

When they had returned to Warfang, the real NSC backup had arrived. Two repair ships were hovering next to the NSS Warlock and repairing its engines. NSC personnel were sweeping the area, clearing up the stragglers. Chloe however had just gone straight to her quarters.

Chloe barely looked up to see Spyro and Cynder come in. "Chloe, we're so sorry about what happened to Matt," said Spyro, "We knew him well and I think we would have prefered him that way." "I know how it's like to lose someone you care closely about," said Cynder. "Who says he's lost?" The three of them jumped and turned to see Mr. Black.

Chloe jumped up. "YOU!" she yelled and threw a lightning bolt at the ancient.

Somewhat to her surprise, the lightning bolt, instead of hitting Mr. Black, disappeared as it got near him, as if it went through some invisible door. "There's no need to jump off the handle," said Mr. Black calmly.

"Where's my brother, you asshole!" she screamed.

Mr. Black frowned and said, "Profanity will get you nowhere, young lady. As to Master Matthew, I believe you're jumping to conclusions too switfly."

"He was at ground zero of a weapon grade reality weapon." said Chloe angrily

"True, mortals rarely survive such an assault," said Mr. Black. Chloe was about to yell at him again when Mr. Black said, "I said 'rarely', not 'can't'."

Chloe stopped. "You should return in a week...I have no doubt the NSC will want a check on this world after the empires attention." said Mr. Black.

"Is Matt really ok?" asked Chloe softly. Mr. Black considered his answer for a moment and said, "Master Matthew has shown an uncanny ability to evade death, but not punishment. However, he has yet to be dealt a wound that is not recoverable."

"I advise you take my advice...farewell." said Mr Black, shimmering into nothing. Cynder sighed. "That was worse then those riddles." she said

Spyro noticed the softened expression on Chloe's face. "But at least it gives hope," he said.

"Hope...greatest of all treasures...make sure he's ok." said Chloe.

Sometime later, Chloe's team had left Avalar and returned to the Bladestorm. Chloe stepped through the airlock and said, "Hey guys, we're ba- WHAT IN NULLSPACE HAPPENED HERE?!?"

The hanger looked like a toiletry convention...with added blast marks. Chris and Xander were standing to attention, Chris;s look ruined by the annoyed looking spiderbot superglued to his head. Xander was surprisingly unharmed, proving that no experiment was dumb enough to pick a fight with a alien who bench pressed jeeps.

"Would either of you two care to explain this?" asked Chloe, sounding at her wit's end. "The experiments broke into the coffee vault three minutes after you left," said Chris, "It's been a nonstop frat party ever since."

Xander said "I was in meditation all the time you were gone...they didn't bother me for some reason." he said. Chris glared at Xander. "Becuse you can twist hyena up like a pretzel?" Xander noticed a missing person. "Where is the captain?" he asked politely

"Matt's... in special training right now," said Chloe, "We'll go back to pick him up in a week. But it looks like it'll take that long to clean up this mess."

Just then, a portal opened up in the air and Morph hopped out, a suitcase in each hand and a party hat on his head. "I'm home!" he called. He looked around and said, "Aw, you guys threw a welcome pary for me."

Chris's mental state decided enough ws enough at this poiunt and he ran off screaming about 'the horrible toilet paper'.

--

Meanwhile, Sonya, Smoldron, and Xyphros were searching through the ruins of Banshee Base to find some trace of Matt.

Morgan and his remaining men were also helping and Spyro and Cynder were helping too.

--

Matt sat under the rubble, thinking. The last thing he remembered proper had been seeing the wave of reality energy hit Malefor before it had torn into him. The word 'ow' kept being applied to that memory. "Not...how I planned to go." he muttered. His hands felt funny come to that...broken wrists?

Just then, a portion of rubble over him was moved aside and sunlight hit Matt's eye like an arrow. "I found him!" called Spyro's voice.

Morgans voice got closer. "Captain...can you hear me..." he said. Another portion of rubble was pulled aside and Morgan said "Oh dear." Matt said "What?" Sparx's voice was heard. "Nobody get him a mirror."

**What happened to Matt? Well, you'll have to wait till the final part of the trilogy. Look out for 'Soul gem Saga: Doomsday'...coming soon.**


End file.
